Chapter 21
With Sir Arthur’s help, we were able to rinse ourselves off quickly and head back to the academy.
The return trip was quieter than I’d expected.
Eleanor and Hayden bickered here and there, but it was far less than on the way to the Krag Forest. They were probably exhausted in their own ways.
More than that…
“Theodore.”
“……”
“Theodore?”
“……H-huh?!”
Theodore was unusually quiet.
More precisely, he looked a little spaced out.
‘What’s with him now?’
Was my rampaging really that shocking?
Unlike Eleanor, who snapped back to normal fairly quickly, Theodore stayed like that the entire time we teleported.
He worried me, but it didn’t seem like I’d get a proper answer if I asked right now, so I decided to let it go for the moment. I’d ask him later—definitely.
“Finally…!”
We made it back to the academy safely before curfew.
Letting out a short exclamation, Hayden leaned against me as if he were about to collapse—only to be forcibly pulled upright by Eleanor.
He was heavy already, so honestly, nice one, Eleanor.
“Thanks for today, everyone!”
Thanks to you all, I pulled off a ridiculous power-leveling spree!
I couldn’t suppress my grin as I thanked the three of them.
Eleanor waved it off, saying it was nothing. Theodore said he was just glad nothing happened. Hayden tried to bring up “date conditions” and immediately got stabbed by the other two’s icy glares.
‘Hayden… that guy really is something else.’
Anyway, I returned to the dormitory.
Along the way, I made a small but nice discovery—I found out Eleanor’s dorm room number. It was just one floor away from mine.
“Ughhh…”
I was about to flop onto my bed like usual when I stopped myself just before touching the blankets.
I’d wiped off roughly before leaving, but I hadn’t properly washed. When we were together, I hadn’t noticed, but now the smell of blood felt like it was clinging to my body.
“Yeah, no. I have to shower.”
I hurried into the bathroom. One thing I really liked about these dorms was that every room had a bathtub. Rich schools really were on another level.
After splashing around and scrubbing myself squeaky clean, I crawled back into bed feeling refreshed. Having everything done put my mind at ease.
Alright—time to check today’s results.
Status Window
▸ Name: Lucy Saint Lv. 8
▸ Class: Archer
▸ Trait: Ranged Accuracy 1% (Fixed)
▸ Mana: D
▸ Stamina: D
▸ Strength: A
▸ Agility: D-
▸ Perception: (E-) → E+
▸ Skills: Sharpshooter S / Collision C / Line-of-Sight Break D / Suppressive Fire C
Lucy Saint, with stats like this!
Just looking at it was satisfying. And my Perception had gone up two grades. These were stats I wouldn’t be embarrassed to call “Awakened” anywhere.
Sub Quest Complete!
You have excellently completed your first sub quest!
A special reward has been prepared for you.
Would you like to check it now? (Click!)
And there were still rewards left.
With a pleased smile, I gently clicked the button.
Special Reward!
We support your future journey!
Monster Encyclopedia + Skill Draw Ticket + 2 Stat Points + +30 Affinity with Your Hunting Party
Whoa, that’s generous.
All the rewards were good, but the Monster Encyclopedia especially caught my eye.
• Monster Encyclopedia:
A compendium listing all monsters. Once you defeat a monster at least once, its weaknesses and traits will be added.
So once I kill something once, I don’t have to memorize its weaknesses or traits anymore!
I’d already lost sleep flipping through monster reference books, so this was insanely useful. At the very least, I’d be able to identify monsters I hadn’t seen before.
“Should I use the skill draw ticket right away?”
Might as well do it while I’m in a good mood. Even if I get a mediocre skill, it won’t sting as much. It was only a D-rank ticket anyway—I wasn’t expecting much.
When I activated it, blue cards fanned out in a spinning motion. One by one they vanished, until only a single card remained.
Line-of-Sight Break D
…Yeah. I was wondering why duplicates hadn’t shown up before.
Thankfully, just like last time, a prompt asking whether I wanted to fuse appeared, so I confirmed immediately.
Line-of-Sight Break C (UP!)
Evasion.
Exit the visual field of a close-range target for 1 second.
After skill activation, first attack speed increases by 20%.
(Cooldown: 15 seconds)
A notification announced the successful fusion and skill rank-up.
The evasion duration increased from 0.5 seconds to 1 full second, and an additional effect—boosting first attack speed—was added.
‘Wait a second. If that’s the case…’
This is actually great, isn’t it?!
Line-of-Sight Break was a skill I’d gotten solid mileage out of even during the entrance exam. With a first-attack buff added, it’d be even more useful going forward.
‘And since it’s C-rank, the mana cost won’t be an issue.’
Based on what I tested during the hunt, C-rank skills didn’t drain mana that badly. Even with my current mana pool, they were manageable.
Still, a 20% attack speed boost—how much is that really?
Lucy’s Agility was D- right now.
Hmm. Maybe it wouldn’t feel that dramatic just yet…
“I’ll test it soon.”
If it turned out better than I expected, investing today’s stat points into Agility might be worth it. For now, though, I planned to save them to keep my options open.
“Yaaawn…”
Maybe because the tension finally faded, drowsiness hit me all at once. Staring at the glaring system windows had dried my eyes out too. I rubbed them and closed the interface—I’d checked everything I needed.
‘At least this system has some conscience.’
I’d thought it had none after how hard it pushed me on day one.
Praising the system for the first time ever, I drifted off to sleep.
“Speed up! If monsters come from behind, are you still going to run like that?!”
Damn it!
I’d completely forgotten that today’s first class was Basic Training 1.
How does this system manage to give me something to curse about the moment I praise it?
‘Damn it, Hayden…!’
For the record, Hayden had slipped away as usual.
I’d forgotten about this class too, so I hadn’t managed to drag him along.
“Uaaaah—!”
We continued training in a daze, accompanied by the red-hatted instructor’s shouting.
Still, having leveled up, it wasn’t as soul-crushing as last time. More like… please spare my life levels of pain.
“Isn’t it wonderful that some trainees adapt in just one week? This instructor is very proud!”
No, that’s leveling up.
Even while half out of my mind near the end of training, I heard him loud and clear. It was so absurd.
“Ugh…”
After Basic Training 1 ended, we shuffled down the hallway like zombies, groaning about muscle pain. We still had one more class to go.
‘By the way…’
I glanced at Theodore, who was walking unsteadily beside me. He looked just as worn out as last time—but something about him was different.
‘How did he endure that?’
Theodore hadn’t fallen behind.
He’d forced himself through the training, swallowing down nausea and pushing on stubbornly.
‘Huff… urgh!’
‘Trainee Theodore, are you alright?’
Even when the red-hatted instructor questioned him, Theodore didn’t answer and kept running.
More accurately, he didn’t have the mental capacity to answer. He was forcing himself past his limits.
Remembering that, I spoke carefully.
“Are you okay, Theodore?”
“Yeah.”
He gave me his usual faint smile.
It was the question-and-answer we always exchanged after Basic Training 1. But for some reason, it felt like I shouldn’t pry any further. I closed my mouth.
And so, without learning anything, we headed into the next class.
This one was Strategic Command Theory, a course combining theory and practice.
“Today, Class E and Class F will conduct joint practical training.”
Suddenly, it turned into a joint session.
“What?”
“So suddenly?”
“Why tell us on the day of class…?”
Every Class F student—including me—was confused. Apparently, no one had heard about this beforehand.
In contrast, the Class E students standing opposite us showed no reaction, as if they’d already been informed. If anything, they looked confident.
‘Why is this school so spontaneous about everything?’
Come to think of it, the professor teaching Strategic Command Theory was Class E’s homeroom professor. Yeah—no wonder only they knew.
Accepting reality, I casually scanned the Class E students. I assumed they’d all be unfamiliar faces.
‘Huh? Wait.’
Among the strangers, there was one face I recognized.
That person was definitely someone I’d met during the entrance exam…
‘Orange hair?’
The Lucy look-alike who’d badmouthed me behind my back.
