The elective was in room B17
When I entered, the rows of the classroom were already filled with students, most of which were wearing a familiar azure blue blazer. There were about 40 first years of which 32 of them were girls. The reason for such disparity in gender probably had to do with the class president's bewitching appearance.
After glancing at the room for a couple of seconds, I turned towards Amanda's direction and sat a few seats behind her. All the front row seats had been taken by the girls.
Sitting down, I could smell a nice rose-like scent coming from her direction promoting my nose to greedily take in the smell. After being exposed to this scent for five minutes…
An elegant young man, with nicely combed hair, entered the classroom. He had a gentle smile on his face, and his looks could've been considered to be on the higher end of the spectrum.
...The club president finally showed up.
Arriving in front of the podium, the young man calmly placed his stuff down and looked at all the students that had come. Smiling he said
"Nice to meet you. I'm Elijah Turner. I am very pleased by your participation in our elective, food exploration."
Elijah Turner, the current president of the elective and a third-year.
As he smiled, apart from Amanda, all the girl's faces flushed red in excitement
Rolling my eyes, I rested my head on my right arm and carefully looked at Elijah. Though the class may be ignorant about his true nature, I wasn't
Elijah Turner was a Villain and professor Thibaut's second in command. Soon, several incidents would happen in the academy, including an incident involving Amanda. Elijah would be the mastermind behind it.
Of course, I had no reason to make trouble for myself by shouting, 'This guy is a Villain alongside Professor Thibaut—!'
They'd probably glare at me and kick me out of the club.
Wasn't worth the effort.
In any case, Elijah had made a pact with a demon that was part of the charm clan, a sub-branch of the demon clan of Lust. In exchange for selling his soul to the demon, he obtained his current appearance and an ability called 'Bewitchment' which was very similar to Donna's enchantment art. The only difference was that it only worked on females, whilst Donna's worked for anyone regardless of gender or race.
Currently, his main goal should be Amanda. Being such a talented individual, alongside her impressive background, the demons highly coveted her.
That was part of the reason why his contractor was a high-ranking demon within the Charm clan despite his talent being on the lower side.
"Since today is the first day, I'll do a brief introduction about myself and what the club consists of"
His charming voice drifted across the classroom pleasantly entering everyone's ears like it was a beautiful note from a fine-tuned instrument. Instantly the eyes of the female students started shining even brighter.
"In food exploration, we research and discuss monster and plant composition. We will look at which monsters and plants are edible, and how they benefit our bodies. The topics that we will cover in this course are, monster identification, methods of cooking, poison extraction, what combinations were most optimal, and plant identification."
"It may sound boring and all, but don't worry as that's just the boring part..."
Smiling brightly, Elijah looked at everyone in the class. As he was looking his eyes slightly paused on Amanda, who was quietly listening to the lecture.
Rolling my eyes, I scoffed at him. 'You think no one noticed you staring at Amanda?'
"...for the fun part, with the permission from the academy, we will be going to different places and taste amazing food!"
A wave of cheers instantly enveloped the class as the male students celebrated the fact that they were able to leave the academy, while the female students cheered for a different reason.
'Food exploration' as odd as it may sound, was one of the most sought-after courses for lower-end academies as not only did it pay well, but it also didn't have as high of a risk compared to dungeon hunting. This was especially tempting for those who didn't have any combat talent. As despite lacking talent in combat, they could still be widely recognized and regarded by most people. The more famous chefs even had celebrity status that rivaled that of most S ranked heroes.
Walking towards the table that was neatly set up in front of the classroom, Elijah pulled his sleeve upwards.
"I'll show you guys a quick demonstration. Let's take a look at this steak. As I'm sure most of you know, this is the meat of a D rank creature 'Man-o-War horse'."
Tapping his ring twice, a large steak appeared on the table. The steak which was the size of a wheel had fine white threats of fat extending like a spiderweb all over the steak reminding me a wagyu steak. Just one look and it was enough for me to start salivating.
Tapping on a button, a holographic image of a large horse popped up for everyone in the class to see. Just like its name suggested, the 'Man-o-War horse' was an evolved version of a horse. Having an enormous body that was as tall as three people, the 'Man-o-War horse' was an extremely strong D rank monster. What made them troublesome was their ferocious and fearsome personalities that would cause them to attack anything at minimal provocation.
"As most of you probably know, the Man-o-War horse is an extremely hard creature to kill let alone capture. If not for the fact that after careful research and analysis we found its weakness, this steak's value would already be in the five digits."
As Elijah talked, a sudden wave of tiredness swept over me. It mostly had to do with the fact that I was overworking myself these days, but it also had to do with the fact that I already knew the contents of the lecture.
"Huaaaaaam…"
A yawn soon escaped from my mouth and the corners of my eyes teared up.
The yawn, which was fairly loud caused Elijah's eyebrows to slightly twitch. Soon every female in the class turned their heads in my direction and hatefully glared at me. It was like they were telling me 'How dare you interrupt our prince when he's speaking?'
Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised if they attacked me for real if I yawned one more time. The girls had fallen deep.
Only Amanda kept her eyes on the hologram and ignored what was happening around her.
"Cough..."
Elijah let out a dry cough before continuing his explanation.
"Because of the food it consumes, which mainly consists of highly fatty food, the Man-o-War horse's meat as seen here is highly marbelized..."
...
-Ding! -Dong!
50 minutes have passed since then, and finally, the loud sound of the bells signaling the end of the lectures rang. Standing up, I packed up my stuff and prepared to leave. This time I held my impulse to yawn as I didn't want to get attacked by Elijah's crazy fangirls.
You never know how scary fangirls were...
I was on my way to the door when I saw Elijah approaching Amanda. My feet soon stopped.
"Junior Amanda."
"...hm?"
"Here, this is a small gift for entering the elective."
Taking out a small black object from his pocket, Elijah handed it to Amanda.
As I focused a lot on Kevin in the novel, I didn't really know what happened in between the events that led to the incident between Elijah and Amanda...so what he was doing now and what the black box was I had no clue. But I knew he was scheming something. Rather than that being just a gift for joining the elective, Elijah probably handed her something valuable just to strike a good impression with her.
"Ah, yes, thank you."
Amanda took the box and indifferently left the class. That seemed to be the end of their first encounter.
...well that was more anti-climatic than I expected.
Was expecting something more entertaining to be honest, but I guess Elijah was much more patient than I gave him credit for as he just smiled as if nothing happened.
Shaking my head, I walked out of the classroom.
'Well, not like I care anyways.'
All I cared about at the moment was getting stronger. As long as the plotline of the story didn't deviate too much from the main story, I couldn't care less about the minor details.
Walking out of the classroom, I thought for a bit before deciding to go back to my dorm.
I think I deserved a bit of rest. It wouldn't do me any good if I overworked myself.
...
-Click!
Arriving in my dorm, I opened the door and entered.
-Pomf!
Placing my keys on the wall hanger, I lazily slumped on the bed.
-Ding!
"..hm?"
Hearing the sound of a notification coming from my phone, I took my phone out and unlocked the screen.
[Class A25, A24, A23 announcement]
—Dear students we will be going on an excursion two weeks from today. We will be going to Hollberg, and we will visit their famous monster processing plant. The trip will be approximately a week long and thus will require you to come prepared. Read more....
"...ooof"
Lazily throwing my phone on the bed, I couldn't help but feel a massive headache coming my way.
Two weeks from now our entire class will be going to Hollberg, a city two hours away from Ashton city.
The goal of this trip was to let students see how monsters were processed and how they were used to create weapons and artifacts.
It was a very useful class as it helped students understand some of the topics in class better—it was always easier to learn visually rather than theoretically.
...too bad the trip was not as fun as it may seem on the surface.
"Just...ahh"
Thinking about the future that awaits me, a long tired sigh escaped from my mouth as I used my arm to cover my eyes.
"Let's just hope that I won't have to expose myself"
Though I said that, my hopes were low. The trip was definitely one that I would have to participate in even if I didn't want to.
Normally, in my previous world, in order to skip school, I could've faked a sickness or something. But here...the technology was so advanced that pretending to be sick wouldn't work.
With a simple check, the doctor could immediately tell if someone was lying or not.
"Let's hope for the best..."
-Clank! -Clank!
The sound of metal clashing together reverberated across the surroundings as individuals could be seen sparring against each other or against the puppets in the training ground.
Not so far from them, in the middle area of the training ground, a lone boy was currently sheathing and unsheathing the katana in his hands.
As this had been a common sight for the past three weeks, no one paid attention to it any longer. They just brushed it off as the guy being crazy.
"I can feel myself reaching the threshold to the minor realm of mastery"
After spending most of my time training and attending classes, a week had passed.
Before I knew it, my level of mastery of the [Keiki style] had improved drastically.
If before I could only execute the first movement once or twice, now I could do it five times before running out of mana.
Gripping the handle of my katana tighter, I emptied my mind and focused on training.
'I must constantly unsheathe the sword in my heart.'
'Draw, slash, draw, slash, and accumulate the mana in my body that was constantly growing stronger as I trained.'
'If I could do this 10,000 times flawlessly without any loss in movement, only then would I achieve the minimum standard required to seamlessly execute the [keiki style]'
Soon everything around me disappeared. The scornful glances from the people around me, the loud sound of people practicing...only me and my mind
Draw the katana, slash out.
Draw the katana, slash out.
Draw the katana, slash out.
As if I was in a trance, I didn't stop until my mana and stamina were completely spent.
Taking a look at my surroundings, it was currently already dark outside. Around me, I could only see the silhouettes of a few individuals training.
-Ding!
Wiping off the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead, I glanced at my phone which was constantly ringing since a while ago.
Turning on my phone the first thing I saw was a large notification in red.
"...It finally happened"
[Breaking news]
—Thobias Church of C.B. pharmaceuticals has been assassinated last night in his high-security apartment. Reports and investigations point the killer to be rank 37 Silent creeper.
Lightly smiling, I turned off my phone and went back to training.
...talk about perfect timing. Was starting to get impatient from my slow progress.
By the end of today, I could finally kiss goodbye to my poor life...well to be honest, as I will spend most of my money on potions the luxurious life that I was dreaming of was still a long stretch away.
Actually, now that I thought about it, wasn't it a bit fucked up that I was celebrating someone's death?
Though I indeed made a lot of money, it was at the expense of someone's life...
Thinking thus far, I slapped my cheeks. He was destined to die anyway, nothing I could do about it. I only took advantage of the inevitable...could I have stopped it? Yes, I could've. But having been in this world for a while now, I realized that compassion was unneeded. It was every man to himself in this world, there was no need for such thing like compassion. If I wanted to be strong, I needed to become apathetic to this sort of stuff as this probably won't be the last time a similar situation happens.
-Ring! -Ring! -Ring!
"...Hm? who could be calling me at this hour?"
Noticing that someone was calling my phone, I went and picked it up. Soon a large smirk appeared on my face.
Picking up the phone, I cheerfully answered.
"~oh my, who could this be?"
[...you—how?]
After a short pause, the person on the other side of the phone spoke. His voice which was usually deep raised a few pitches.
"What are you talking about?"
Cheekily smiling, I teased smallsnake who was on the other side of the phone.
[...sigh, well it doesn't matter. You were right—how do you wish to proceed]
"Hmm, hold it until tomorrow and sell it in the morning as soon the stock exchange opens at 9:30 a.m."
[...but wouldn't it be better if we hold it for a bit longer?]
"Well from a normal person's point of view yes...but well, let's just say that its better if we don't become too greedy and play it safe"
[...Alright, I'll trust you this once]
"Next time you see me I bet you'll get on your feet to kiss my shoes"
[sure, sure, I'll call you later once I've settled everything]
"Aight"
-Tak!
With a grin still plastered on my face, I hung up the phone. I wasn't sure why, but I really enjoyed teasing smallsnake.
"ah, it's about time I headed back"
Collecting my stuff, I deposited my sword back and left for my dorm.
I was in a pretty good mood as I felt that I was only a few days away from reaching the minor real of mastery of my [Keiki style] which would considerably boost my strength.
...
Morning, Saturday.
-Ring! -Ring! -Ring!
Waking me up from my sleep was the constant ringing of my phone.
Lazily stretching my arm, I tapped all over my bed until I finally felt a small rectangular object in my hand.
Unlocking the phone, I answer the call
"...Hello? who's this?"
Hearing my groggy voice, the other person on the phone paused slightly and asked
[It's me...Did you just wake up?]
"Yea.."
[Ah sorry about that but I came to tell you some good news]
"What good news?"
[After removing all the fees your total profit stands at 14,673 million U]
"...that's a lot of money"
[Is that seriously how a normal person reacts to having just made this much money?]
"ah, well I'm still quite sleepy so it still hasn't hit me yet...but is that all you called me for?"
[No, there's a bigger issue at hand]
"What?"
Sitting up on my bed, I held the phone closer to my ear.
[Sorry but its not safe if I tell you on the phone as someone might tap on our conversation]
"...is it that serious?"
[...yes]
Hearing Smallsnake's solemn voice I let out a long breath and said
"Okay, when do you plan to meet up?"
[How about tomorrow at Epsilon cafe in Refton road, 10 a.m?]
"...yeah, okay, I'll see you then"
-Tak!
Hanging up the phone I pinched the middle of my brows for a couple of seconds before finally letting out a long sigh.
...this was going to be a long week.
...
Washing up, I headed outside my dorm.
Looking at my bank account that was now 14 million U heavier, a smirk appeared on my face. Was this how it felt to be rich?
Not bad...
"Where are you headed to?"
"Section C please"
"Okay"
Sitting inside a minibus, I patiently waited for the driver to start the engine.
Right now I was headed to the C section of the campus which was quite far from where I was staying.
...now that I had enough money, it was about time that I finally get in contact with the person that could provide me with below-market priced potions.
I sort of dreaded this moment.
Let's just say that the person I was going to interact with was very...hm, quirky?
"Section C? Which area?"
"Northside please"
"Alright, we'll arrive in fifteen minutes"
Starting the engine, the van soon sped off into the distance.
Sighing, I looked outside of the window.
These days I was sighing quite a lot. With everything that was going on, I couldn't get one moment of peace.
Staring at the constantly changing scenery, my stomach slightly churned due to nervousness.
What I was about to do next would either make or break me.
...let's just hope everything goes well.
"We're here"
Right on cue, the van stopped in front of a large facility.
"Thank you"
Thanking the driver I walked towards the facility.
Large metal fences covered the facility, where enormous buildings could be seen behind them. The sheer size of the buildings caused me to gape in awe.
"Stop"
Arriving at the entrance of the facility, two guards appeared before me. They were wearing black uniforms with the school insignia imprinted on their chests. They had black military hats and exuded strong pressure.
I'd estimate them to be at around rank D or less, as although the pressure they exuded was strong, it wasn't to the point that made me feel overwhelmed.
Handing one of the guards my student ID card, they scanned it briefly and after everything checked out, they granted me entry.
-Shlup!
Arriving in front of the main building of section C, two transparent retractable doors opened up.
A wave of cold refreshing air coming from the AC instantly hit me.
The interior of the building was very modern and slick. The most dominant color was white, and everything was decorated with a simplistic design.
Arriving in front of the reception of the building, a beautiful young lady smiled at me.
"How may I help you?"
"...er, I would like to meet Melissa Hall please"
The smile of the young clerk lady instantly disappeared. What replaced it was a look of slight disgust as she coldly said
"I'm sorry but this is a research facility, not a place where you can come as you please to court Melissa. Frankly, you're not the first one that has tried this and you probably won't be the last one...and let me be honest with you. You're not qualified"
Being berated by the young clerk lady, my eye twitched a couple of times.
'How did it turn out like this?'
"..err, I am not here to court her"
Hearing what I said, the young lady smirked and proceeded to cross her arms
"Oh? so what are you here for? "
She didn't believe me at all...
"I'm actually her classmate and I have a business proposition for her"
"...oh wow. This is the third person that has used this excuse"
Hearing her sarcastic voice, veins started bulging from my forehead. Taking a deep breath to calm myself down I said
"fuuu...can you just relay it to her, if she denies me I'll just leave"
"he he, fine"
Laughing lightly, the young clerk lady picked up the phone on the counter and dialed a number.
"What's your name?"
"...Ren Dover"
"Alright"
[...Hello?]
Answering the call, a crisp and pleasant voice entered the young girl's ear.
"Hey Melissa, it's me, Rosie"
[Rosie from reception...?]
"Yes."
[How can I help you?]
"I got someone here that insists on meeting you"
[...why did you call me for this? You know that I don't care about this sort of stuff. Just send him out]
Covering the speaker of the phone, Rosie leaned forwards and smiled triumphantly at me.
"You heard her"
Rolling my eyes, I said
"Just tell her I have something important to tell her"
"He says he's got something important to say"
[Don't care, if that's all I'll hang up...by the way, what is the name of the student that is trying to meet me?]
"Err...if I don't remember wrong it's something along the lines of...Bend over?"
[...]
"..."
Multiples veins popped on my forehead as I tried my best not to assault her.
Seeing my reaction, Rosie stuck her tongue out and said
"...ops, I made I mistake I meant Ren Dover"
[...let him in]
"See she doesn't want to...eh? Did I hear wrongly?"
[No, let him in]
-Tak!
Before Rosie could finish speaking, Melissa hung up the phone leaving her there dumbfoundedly staring at her phone.
'What's going on? Doesn't Melissa usually detest interacting with people?'
A million questions entered her mind as she stood rooted on her spot.
"Well, well, well, look at how the roles have reversed miss Rosie"
Smirking, I looked at Rosie who seemed to be lost in her own world.
"You-what did you do?"
Pointing at me, Rosie looked at me as if I performed some sort of witchcraft
"Nothing really...hey, why are you backing away from me?"
As I was speaking I noticed Rosie backing away from me. Almost as if she was scared of me. Wait don't tell me she really believes I did something to Melissa?
"...cough, nothing really, just getting your pass"
Awkwardly coughing, Rosie quickly handed me a card and shooed me away.
Looking back at the reception strangely, I shook my head and made my way towards Melissa's lab. I couldn't be bothered to fix this misunderstanding.
Fortunately, there was a mini GPS map on the card that Rosie gave me, preventing me from getting lost.
Soon I was in front of a large metal door.
-Knock!
Knocking once, I nervously waited for the door to open.
To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be let through this easily. I was prepared to spill some of my secrets and hook her into meeting me, but before I could even take out one of my trump cards Melissa allowed me to meet her.
...Something was fishy.
You may also Like
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT