I Steal The System

Anomaly

"Bzzt!"

With a swift jerk, Lucius roused from his apparent reverie. His hair seemed to stand on end, as if touched by an invisible current. The young man who had been nonchalantly lounging at his desk was now alert, his attention snatched by the unidentified pandemonium unfolding around him.

"What's going on?" He mumbled, his brow furrowed in confusion. The clamor, while undeniable, held no discernible source or explanation.

[System birth detected in the vicinity]

The holographic message hung in the air before his eyes. An added feature of his holographic device, post consumption of the pearl-like artifact - the Eye of Time.

"Thud!"

In his haste, he knocked against the desk, rattling it. The abrupt noise pulled the attention of the entire class towards him - Lucius, the recent cynosure of all eyes due to his striking transformation.

Post ingesting the Eye of Time, Lucius' skin had become as smooth as a newborn's, while his physique had grown more muscular and defined. He was almost unrecognizable, and it took his classmates a while to connect this transformed figure to the familiar Lucius they had known.

"Lucius, are you trying to steal the limelight once more?" The teacher upfront remarked irritably.

The classroom had barely settled from the upheaval caused by the revelation of Lucius' new look, and now he had managed to cause another disruption by knocking into his desk as if he were in some frantic hurry to escape.

"Ms. Erikia, I assure you, that wasn't my intention. I didn't mean to disrupt the class," Lucius responded, maintaining an air of politeness.

He truly hadn't planned on this. The odd sensation, coupled with the hologram's notification about the birth of a nearby system, had thrown him off guard, and he had unintentionally unsettled the tranquility of the classroom.

"Lucius, I acknowledge the sacrifices you've made these past months. Three months away from school, and now you're back, looking renewed. That deserves recognition. However, I hope you can be more mindful of your surroundings," Erikia chided gently.

"Indeed, Ms. Erikia. May I please step out for a moment?"

"Why do you need to leave the class?"

"I have some urgent matters to attend to."

Of course, Lucius couldn't be completely straightforward about his reasons. He had secrets that even his closest allies weren't privy to.

"Alright, you may step out, Lucius," Erikia conceded after a thoughtful pause. "But remember to return promptly."

With a quick smile of gratitude, Lucius stood up. The irony of the situation was not lost on him: an old soul being admonished by a younger teacher. But such were the vicissitudes of life, he thought.

--

Without wasting a moment, Lucius bolted out of the classroom, his pace comparable to that of someone in desperate need of a restroom. Only, he wasn't suffering from any digestive disorder. Instead, he was chasing a point - a location radiating an unfamiliar energy. The school's rooftop, a place he couldn't recall anything of significance associated with in his previous life.

He darted towards the uppermost floor of the school building - a popular hangout spot among the more rebellious students, an escape from the monotony of ongoing classes.

As he burst through the door, the loud crash attracted the attention of a group of students lounging around. They immediately shot hostile glances at Lucius.

"Look who it is! The new golden boy of the school! Got some nerve disturbing our peace," jeered a student, his shirt casually untucked in an attempt to look cool.

To Lucius, though, his outfit was anything but appealing. It seemed juvenile, an imitation of a style that, in Lucius' experienced perspective, was far beneath the average person's taste.

"I see your lips moving, but all I hear is gibberish," Lucius retorted casually, his attention more focused on the pulsating point of energy nearby.

"The system hasn't fully manifested yet, has it?" he mumbled, recalling the hologram's previous notification.

[The system's birth is complete, but it requires time to mature and locate a suitable host.]

"Ah, so I could potentially accelerate this process using the power of time?" Lucius thought out loud, conversing with the holographic interface.

"Hey, are you talking to yourself or what?" a student mocked, interrupting Lucius' thought process.

Ignoring the bullies, Lucius focused on one of them. A lean student with a skeletal figure, suggestive of malnourishment, his face naggingly familiar.

"Nevan... that name rings a bell." He recognized the student as the infamous King of the Dead from his past life. "So, he's one of the early ones to receive a system, just like me. No wonder he was able to make a name for himself so quickly with his fanciful title," Lucius pondered, even as the group of bullies advanced towards him, their patience thinning with his dismissive attitude.

The confrontation was about to escalate, and the leader of the group lunged towards Lucius.