After a bit more discussion, Sophie entered the room and kicked Abraham out so Jack could enjoy his meal and have some rest. With their duty to the Corvus of informing Jack about what he needed to know completed, Sophie insisted that his everyday life should not be disrupted any more.
Now, resting on his bed, Jack took his time and reviewed the system notification that appeared before he had entered blackout.
You have earned experience that the system cannot process.
The experience will be reserved.
It will be used once the initialization is complete.
Initialization time: 76 days 13 hours 40 minutes 21 seconds.
Experience can be acquired before the system completely reset?
Jack rubbed his chin and thought about it. Maybe this notification suggested that he stored up as much of this reserved experience as possible. If this was the case, he could level up and gain advantages against his peers. Moreover, The initialization day was on his tenth birthday, the time of the awakening ceremony. Uncertain as he was, he still hoped that the experience would help with the outcome of the event.
The next thing on his mind was how to acquire more of it, as his weak body was no good at fighting monsters. Facing the Four-Horned Boar had almost been too much of a fight for him to overcome, and when the existence of the Cavernwraith almost led him to his death, this option became untenable.
Cavernwraith was a Crusader rank monster. Though it was only of lower Crusader, not at the higher level like that of principal Meinhard, it still took five Warriors with similar ranking to be captured. Man or monsters at such levels had an aura surrounding them. Abraham had once pointed out that if Jack was a Herald, it wouldn’t do too much to him, but since he was now only a normal person, the pressure emitting from the monster could very well disrupt his inner organs. Luckily, during the incident, the teachers had managed to intercept and keep the Cavernwraith away from Jack. If not, once close enough, Jack’s organ would have been crushed by its aura.
Realizing his weakness, Jack impatiently yearned for even more practice. Now, one possible way for him to gain experience was to follow the path of an Artificer of crafting items.
Jack spent the rest of the day looking into the notes in the system’s item list. Most of the Herald rank items didn’t have too many technical requirements. The most common way of crafting was to forge them.
After making a simple plan of scouting the forges, Jack fell asleep as the sunlight barely turned orange.
The following day, Jack was intercepted on his way to class at the school gate by none other than Meinhard himself and brought to the principal’s office.
His appearance was sloppy as his eyes were full of exhaustion, much like Abraham's. Jack got himself a seat and waited for the professor to open up.
As usual, Meinhard prepared for him a cup of mana tea, which Jack was desperately in need of. The side effects of the medicine and therapy had left him sluggish since his awakening.
Then, Meinhard began.
“Something is going on inside the Corvus. In the upcoming time, I will tutor you more often, preparing you on the knowledge about Nightblade, as well as Arcanist. You will be the ace for this underground storm here at Oxdale.”
During the previous meetings, Jack had suspected that the principal had some deep connection to the Corvus after his revelation about the Nightblade. This time, his attitude only solidified the theory.
“The problem is,” Jack said, leaning his head, “will I be alive long enough to receive the education?”
“The servitude powers of the Corvus are not feeble at all,” Meinhard’s voice deepened, “it’s still too soon for the enemy to have it their way. I will try my best to protect you.”
“But why am I the ace?”
Meinhard rubbed his chin, where there was actually some rough unshaved beard for him to scratch, unlike its last smooth appearance.
“Basically, you could be considered as a graduate from Rolerra. Your capability has been proven and it is my responsibility to ensure your future advancement. Once you have managed to make a name for yourself, the lower power will start submitting themself.”
“Graduated?” Jack asked. “Because of the Four-horned Boar?”
“Yes. Most of the students, when performing the graduation exercise with the boar, are only required to maintain the battle for three minutes without the intervention of a teacher, inflict a wound on its body, or use whatever trick or intimidation it takes to stop it from attacking you.”
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“Sounds easy enough!”
“For an unawakened student, that is dangerous enough. Because anyhow, your true potential can only reveal itself after the awakened ceremony. Before that, knowing how to survive was the utmost crucial demand. Oh, and there’s one more thing relating to our deal.”
Jack’s eyes brightened up.
“The other returner?”
“Yes, Charlotte Allison, at the Imperial Academy of Ovetin. She went from the intermediate class to the prodigious class just two weeks after her awakening. The emperor himself has noticed this strange transition. According to what we have discussed, Charlotte may be another returner.”
Jack pondered as he was expecting a familiar name. Nevertheless, this was good news, a clue for him to get what he needed.
“And you are expecting me to go to the Imperial Academy?” Jack asked.
“Indeed, if somebody has the capability, it will be you. But your path won’t be a straight one. Charlotte had been studying there before, meaning her capability had already been proven from a young age. You know your place in all this, right Jack?”
Jack nodded. No matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, the success of an individual was usually the result of their innate ability, the resourceful backing of their family, and a bit of luck. A commoner would never have a chance to climb to the top. A talent would wither and die without something to support it. Even the hardest head would crumble before its misfortune. And Jack seemed to have it all, at least in the eyes of others. Being branded as the one with low magic affinity index, the window for him was limited. He could only take one step at a time, and his next step would be the National Academy of Kosine at Omnivell.
“After the awakening ritual,” Meinhard said, “If your capability is good enough, Koisine will let you do their entrance test. If you are deemed worthy of their nurture, they will accept you with a direct entry.”
“And what kind of acceptance do you think I will get?”
“A direct offer, a special direct offer.”
“There are more assessments after a direct offer?”
“Yes, and you must pass them with flying colors if you want to secure a future at Ovetin.”
“Wow, you sure know how to unmotivate people.”
“Don’t bluff. You can’t stop smiling the whole time.”
Jack tried to pull the edge of his lips back to normal.
“So,” Jack said, “the peak performers of the assessment will go to the prodigious class, am I right?”
“Yes,” Meinhard nodded, “and there’s the introduction letter. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Alright, so tell me more about your tutoring plan in the near future!”
The two talked for a bit more to complete their upcoming studying schedule. Afterward, when Jack was about to leave, he remembered something important to ask the principal.
“Do you know any good forge in Oxdale?”
“Sword in the Forge.”
Jack could barely hold his laugh at the funny name.
“Do they accept any apprentice?”
“Yes, but the forge owner is Bastian, a grumpy old man that even I couldn’t stand.”
Jack quietly appreciated the fact that Meinhard wasn’t asking why and tried to intervene or something. Perhaps he had realized that no one could make the decision for Jack.
Jack left the office and instantly faced Patrick and his father, Arnold Hensley, walking toward the door.
“Father,” Patrick said, pointing his finger at Jack, “he’s the Harper kid.”
The muscular man Patrick was following took a step forward. Standing closer in front of Jack, he felt like a menacing and overwhelming mountain. His gray hair was combed neatly. He wore a monocle, his eyes curved up, much like his friendly smile and mustaches. He reached out toward Jack.
Jack calmly received it.
“Jack,” Arnold said joyfully with a friendly, somewhat neutral tone of voice, “I remember the day the Harper family adopted you. I carried you in my arms too.”
Jack tried his best to hold his lips from pouting out.
“I really don’t recall that,” Jack said, smiling.
“Well, it’s okay. Today, I am taking Patrick to meet the principal to apologize for the incident between you two. I am really sorry for not educating my son better.”
Jack nodded.
“It’s okay, Mr. Arnold. It was just a minor incident. We’re kids. A little scuffle is normal.”
Arnold spread his arms out and gave a refreshing laugh.
“You are quite mature for your age, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I just hope that Mr. Arnold here won’t scold me when we meet next time.”
“Of course,” Arnold enthusiastically padded Jack’s shoulder, ‘of course. I’m thinking if I even should ask you to look after Patrick for me here!”
Jack felt a mana flow going into his body.
“So,” Jack said, “I must go back to class now. You and Patrick should just continue on your way.”
When Jack turned the corner, Arnold gritted his teeth.
“Damn brat, threatening me!”
“Threatening?” Patrick asked confusingly.
Arnold slapped his kid’s head, veins popping all over his face.
“You idiot, I didn’t need you to tell me who the boy was, you get that? That damn opportunistic and flamboyant posture is a pain in the eyes. And you didn’t even notice he said next time? ‘Next time’ is he’s waiting to take good care of you, kid!”
Patrick startled. Arnold Hensley breathed out in frustration for a bit more. He intended to talk some more to educate Patrick, but he hesitated as the content had much to do with the powerhouses, so he decided to just open the door of the principal’s office and enter.
As for Jack, a short distance from the corner, the mana flow he had felt erupted. A disturbance inside his body threw him off his feet and left him shaking on the floor. It took a while, only after his body was full of sweat, with saliva and rheum all over the ground, for the pain to finally stop.
Damn the Hensley; the son won’t be enough, Jack cursed inside his head.
He tried to get back on his feet, gathered his stuff, and returned to class.