บท 7: Tiberius Scipio

Chapter - 07

Dear Host,

Please Note Your First Quest:

- Defeat Tiberius Scipio in Class Combat Duel -

I stared at the message, dumbfounded. Of all the people the system could pit me against, it just had to be him—Tiberius Scipio, the golden boy of the academy and protagonist of the story. The only silver lining in this ridiculous quest was the absence of a time limit. At least I wouldn't be forced to confront him immediately. Those kinds of time-sensitive death traps were the bane of every character in the stories I read. The ones where the system practically forced the protagonist into impossible scenarios and expected them to scrape by, usually by sheer dumb luck or divine intervention.

But still, this quest was no joke. No deadline or not, defeating Tiberius was a monumental task. I had to be realistic—there was no way I could beat him anytime soon. He was the golden boy, after all, and even if we were both technically Level 1, I knew enough about the story to know that his stats were far beyond what any other first-year student could hope to achieve. He'd been born special, and not just in the way of good genetics or elite training, but in the way that made you realize the universe itself was bending over backward to make his life easier.

How the hell am I supposed to defeat him?

I racked my brain for a strategy, but everything came back to one glaring issue: stats. I remembered reading about Tiberius' incredible strength, speed, and endurance in the novel. He was the prodigy, handpicked by fate to rise to the top of the academy. Even if I had a few tricks up my sleeve, I wasn't delusional. I knew I needed to assess exactly what I was up against.

Wait... don't I have a skill for that?

Quickly, I mentally pulled up my stats screen and scanned over my abilities.

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Skills:

- Insight of the Observer: This ability grants the user the power to instantly assess the stats and abilities of any individual, as long as their level isn't overwhelmingly superior.

- Boundless Ascension: A passive ability that grants the user limitless potential for growth, allowing them to continuously evolve without reaching a cap. With this skill, the user levels up and grows at an accelerated rate. Their Iridium gain and skill development are vastly enhanced.

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Yup, there it was—Insight of the Observer. The perfect tool to figure out exactly where I stood against the protagonist. But as I read the description, a twinge of uncertainty crept in. "As long as their level isn't overwhelmingly superior…" That part worried me. Tiberius might be the same level as me, but his power was on a completely different plane. Still, I had to try.

Now came the tricky part—figuring out how to actually use the skill. The novel I read never went into the nitty-gritty details, but I figured I just needed to say the skill's name, right? It seemed straightforward enough.

Taking a deep breath, I whispered under my breath, "Insight of the Observer," keeping my voice low so no one around me could hear.

My gaze locked onto Tiberius as I activated the skill. For a brief moment, everything seemed fine, but then an overwhelming pressure surged through my skull, and a sharp, stabbing pain hit me like a freight train.

"Ugh!" I groaned, clutching my head as the pain intensified. It felt like my brain was being squeezed in a vice, my vision swimming as I struggled to stay upright. My hands pressed against my temples, trying to rub away the agony. I closed my eyes, hoping that would ease the pain.

When I finally opened them again, a notification flickered into my vision.

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Massive Use of Iridium Detected

Iridium: 6

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What? I thought, blinking through the haze. Did I just burn 10 points of Iridium?

That was a huge chunk of my total. I only had 16 to begin with! But then I saw why the skill had drained so much energy. As my vision cleared, the stats of Tiberius Scipio finally came into view.

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Tiberius Scipio

Age: 19

Level: 1

Stats:

- Strength: 29

- Endurance: 29

- Speed: 29

- Iridium: 140

Skills: Unknown (Host level too low to access)

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I stared at the numbers in disbelief. No wonder the skill almost fried my brain.

Tiberius was an absolute tank. He might be at Level 1 like me, but his stats were practically maxed out for his level. From what I remembered of the story's mechanics, stats for each level had a cap, and Tiberius was sitting right at the edge of that cap with 29 in Strength, Endurance, and Speed. The ceiling for Level 1 was 30 points in each stat. Once you advanced to Level 2, you're stats would hit 30. Similar happened when you reached 59, the cap for Level 2.

But it wasn't just that. His Iridium—140—was staggeringly high. My pathetic 16 Iridium paled in comparison. That number alone told me he was brimming with magical energy, far beyond what a typical first-year student would possess.

No wonder the guy was the story's protagonist. Everything about him screamed 'chosen one.' Even though we were both Level 1, I might as well have been an ant standing next to a giant.

I let out a low sigh, rubbing my temples. "Great. Just great."

Tiberius wasn't just stronger—he was at the absolute peak of what a first-year student could be before fighting monsters. And that was the crux of the story's progression. In this world, students didn't level up just by training or doing mundane tasks. No, the only way to level up was to fight and kill monsters, absorbing their essence to increase your level and improve your stats.

I glanced around the hall, watching the other students file in, oblivious to the existential crisis I was currently going through. They chatted amongst themselves, probably excited about the orientation and the classes to come. Meanwhile, I had been saddled with an impossible quest that required me to defeat the literal protagonist of the story.

My heart sank further. I had only been in this world for a few hours, and already I was in deep over my head.