Chapter 8: Join my Party!
Arthur opened his eyes and slowly lifted his body from the wooden floor after spending the entire night on it. He had bags of sleep under his eyes, the worst part of it all being that he had no memory of what happened after he opened the black-covered book.
'What happened to me?' he asked himself as he used the corner surface of his reading table to pull himself up…but the feeling of struggle only alerted him that his strength had mysteriously reduced, meaning he had lost mana and his body was still recovering. However, he had no memory of using any magic last night.
"Ugh!!!!" He rubbed his forehead to ease the intense headache he felt at the time. Pain was something he wasn't going to get used so easily. This new body was too fragile, and its weaknesses were many.
"I need to clear my head." He told himself, and then lazily sauntered to the bathroom to catch a clean shower since he hadn't taken one from the day he left the infirmary, approximately two days ago.
He then stood under a fancy-looking shower that shot out warm water the moment he turned it on.
"Ahhhhhhh….." He relaxed as the warm water hit his frail-looking body. He started to notice a few things about this body, it had cuts and scars around the arms and chest. It was crazy to think that this body wasn't similar to his previous one; even the scars looked alike. He found it strange at first when he realized that this body felt like his…but what if it was his body?
Who was he before two days ago? And why did he choose a magic academy so prestigious yet he had so little mana? To him, Arthur Bellrock was someone else…and he had just taken over the human body through a phenomenon that he can't explain for now.
'Why am I overthinking all of this? Why can't I just ignore it all and live Bellrock's life?' He asked himself while staring at the tiled floor. His black hair had fallen forward like seaweed at this point because of how long it was when wet.
After a while, he stepped out of the bathroom, dried himself with a towel, and dressed up in a black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of brown trousers.
"Dang it!" he cursed once he remembered that today was a school day and he needed to be in uniform. Or was it?
He was still minding his own business when he heard knocking coming from his door. When he opened it, he wasn't surprised to see Elizabeth standing at his entrance in a short lemon dress that blended perfectly with her blond hair.
He opened his mouth to speak when she stopped him before he could utter the first letter.
"Good, you're dressed. Today is a free day as the school prepares for the selection exams, and I am here to get your answer before I hand in the party's list."
He was shocked to hear that she was still on this. Yesterday when she asked him to join her party, Arthur gave her excuses like he had no weapon in his name or any combat experience to top that, he was an average human being. But Elizabeth scoffed at all that and told him that she will come for his answer the next day…which was today.
According to the school rules, a leader needed three or five participants, including themselves to be considered as a party. The party chosen during the selection exam would remain your party for every group exam for the rest of your years in the academy. A party member could only be replaced if expelled…or dead. The program helped students build bonds and relationships throughout their school lives before sending them out as mages or dark knights.
Arthur had only been here for two days, but his brain was grasping everything so fast that he wasn't showing signs that he didn't belong in this era. "I don't know…my fighting skills are trash I might just hold back your party." Arthur tried to explain once again, but Elizabeth didn't look interested in his petty excuses.
And after listening to what he had to say, she opened her mouth to speak, "My party will have three people, me, you, and Bairon. We are ranked B,F, and A respectively, meaning you won't be holding us back. I just want you to be the one that fills the third spot…and also, your abilities might be of great help. You might never know."
He sighed, "Fine, that sounds fair."
And that's when he saw Elizabeth smile for the first time--it was short-lived, but at least he got a chance to see it. She pulled up her status card, and he looked away in respect since she wasn't a commoner like him. Status cards were private and crucial to any student in this academy; if someone knew what was on your card, they could easily defeat you in a battle since they were aware of your weaknesses and abilities in the first place.
"Check your status card," she ordered just after closing hers.
He thought of it, and It appeared in front of him.
—Status Card—
Name: Arthur Bellrock
Species: Human
Student Rank: F
Strength: E
Stamina: D
Speed: E
Mana: 50 /50
Luck: E
Skill: Empty
"My skill slot is still empty, but now I can see my strength, stamina, and speed," he muttered while staring at the floating card in front of him.
Elizabeth stared at the card with a curious eye since it was no secret to her because she had seen it before, "Yeah. Making a contract with me updated your card, and now you can see your physical ranks. The empty slot still means you have no skill, though it doesn't stop you from wielding magic items," she mentioned.
He closed his card with a thought, then realized where she was going with this. Magic items were very important in the world of magic, and magic items were capable of boosting the effectiveness of a mage's spell.
"I see."
"Now that your participation is approved, let's go get you a magic sword for the exam."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone