Tetsu returned Carl’s wave with a polite gesture. “Excuse me. It’s been a while since I’ve been around humans,” he explained, sending a shiver down his spine as he almost slipped into Kile’s persona.

“Very calm.” Carl furrowed his eyebrows.

“Should I be worried about my fellow Americans?” Tetsu asked, feigning innocence.

“Well, no!” Carl chuckled. “It’s just you seemed a bit too calm.”

“Ever heard of Hasten High School?” Tetsu inquired.

Hasten, once the top academy in the world before Earth became entangled in the multiverse, was an institution where only the elite among the elite could apply, let alone gain admission. Graduates from Hasten had left an indelible mark on the world, whether in technology, the military, or the arts.

“Elite!” Carl gasped.

Tetsu smirked and gave a slight bow. “I have to admit, I thought the school had concocted another wild scheme,” he said, eyeing Carl with a hint of suspicion.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I doubt I’m worth being a pawn in their games,” Carl reassured with a laugh.

Tetsu maintained his smirk before adding, “Navy… commando, torn between wanting more and wanting to quit.”

Carl’s demeanor shifted in an instant. “Impressive!” He nodded, gesturing for the others to approach.

Noticing the absence of the archers from the group, Tetsu kept his gaze fixed on them. He refrained from looking away to avoid arousing suspicion, relying instead on subtle blinks to scan the surroundings. After a few blinks, a smile crept onto his face as his ears were filled with a distinct sound of progress.

[Ding! Eternal Runes rarity upgrade. Rarity: Uncommon.]

[Ding! Sian Rune: Mark has leveled up. Level: Warrior.]

[Ding! Leech over upgraded to Rarity: Rare.]

[Ding! Greater access to Eye of Providence.]

Not willing to gamble on whether they would attack or remain passive, Tetsu took the initiative. Although they stayed still for the moment, he anticipated they wouldn’t remain inactive during a battle. As a precaution, he aimed to mark them through [Eye of Providence]. He never tried this technique before, because it never crossed his mind until now.

Pressed on time, Tetsu forgot he had spotted the archers through his scouting eyes. It is amusing how a skill can alter one’s perspective. Treating them as his own eyes, Tetsu activated the rune from the [Eye of Providence], marking the archers as a precaution. In his haste, he also activated [Leech Over] to conceal the rune, inadvertently intertwining the perception of the rune on his enemies with his own body.

As a result, the skill reached its threshold and ascended to another level, granting Tetsu the ability to conceal the runes better.

The group was cautious beyond measure. They introduced themselves with worry, but Tetsu was busy daydreaming and experimenting on them, missing any mention of their names. Considering his memory, even if he had paid attention, remembering them would have been a challenge.

Tetsu left the system screen on, partially as a flex, and also to test if anyone else could see the screen. RJ had proven unable to do so, yet other species might not face the same restrictions.

Tetsu released a satisfied sigh when no one commented on the peculiar sensation of shaking hands through the system screen.

The shield guy mentioned they were waiting for others to join. Tetsu assumed he meant the trio, as the archers had yet to make a move. Until they were concealed, Shieldguy would likely remain suspicious of him.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

After a brief blink and placing another mark, Tetsu took a quick nap. The six cadets showed no signs of approaching, and he needed to alleviate the accumulated fatigue for the journey or potential fight ahead.

Two hours later, impatience grew among the cadets. Tetsu dismissed them as insignificant side characters and redirected his focus to the elite five—those deemed the strongest amongst the mountain base.

Tetsu’s fangs did not descend, making him wonder whether any altercation between him and them would end in a fight or slaughter. A smile played across his lips as he rose with a grunt. Before Carl could question the smirk, Tetsu countered by questioning the authenticity of the settlement’s size, aiming to throw him off guard.

“Do you really have a settlement that big? I’m beginning to wonder if my damn school is behind this,” Tetsu inquired, a sly tone in his voice.

“Ah!” Shieldguy scratched his beard. “They should be here any minute now.” He signaled a cadet who cast a fire spell into the sky. “You know the dangers that lurk around. This is our emergency flare. They’ll come running anytime,” he reassured.

The trio waited for another ten minutes for safe measure before approaching the group.

‘So much caution for a mere kid?’ Tetsu mused inwardly. ‘I doubt these people have anything good to offer. Hell, I doubt they’ll even survive this ordeal.’

Approaching the trio, Tetsu cleared his mind, determined to remember their names. As a precaution, he blinked and noticed the archers drawing their arrows.

In a sudden motion, he repositioned himself to stand beside Shieldguy. In case things took a turn for the worse, he wanted that massive shield to absorb the brunt of the attack or incapacitate the Shieldguy first.

Tetsu realized he couldn’t win if Shieldguy continued to rely on that massive shield during their showdown. If possible, he wanted the shield for himself. That way, he can negotiate from a safer distance and behind a reliable metal.

The Swordsman took smaller steps, yet he moved with a swiftness that outpaced the others, a speed Tetsu hadn’t encountered in anyone else so far.

‘I want that skill.’ Tetsu eyed the Swordsman’s feet with palpable greed.

“A skill,” the Swordsman commented, his soft tone not matching his warrior persona.

“guessed as much,” Tetsu replied, shaking his hand. “Koel.”

They sized each other up, both silently asserting their superiority as they nodded and released their grip. The Swordsman cut a striking figure, with chestnut hair, a chiseled jawline, and sharp eyes that lent his calm demeanor a subtle air of menace.

Even in this new reality, Alcer took the time to comb and braid his hair. At first glance, Tetsu mistook the braids for scars, but upon closer inspection, he realized they were a perfect set of braids that adorned the Swordsman’s right side, with the upper curls cascading over the left.

‘If only he had the height to match such stunning features,’ Tetsu Tsked in disappointment.

Standing at four feet eleven inches, Tetsu harbored a desire for that extra inch, even as others bickered about reaching five seven. He longed to hit the five-foot mark, a modest request that the previous god had denied him. Alcer, the swordsman, boasted a height three to four inches taller than Tetsu, while the other two casters, Bomic and Marvin, known as Smiley and Mistguy respectively, were shorter.

‘Did the system sort all the short guys?’ Tetsu frowned, checking Carl for confirmation, finding that he too was around the same height as the others. ‘This is one sad joke,’ he looking up at the heavens.

“What are you looking at, brat?” Alcer’s snarl snapped Tetsu out of his thoughts.

‘Tetsu was taken aback by the unexpected hostility. “The heavens and their cruel joke, if all this is true,” he replied with a forced smile, while conflicted about the image he had painted of Alcer. ‘I did not peg the guy to be a brute!’

“Why don’t I carve you up so you can ask them in person?” Alcer threatened, reaching for his daggers.

Tetsu instinctively took a step back, poised for a counterattack, but a nagging sense of unease gripped him. Everyone in his immediate vicinity seemed ready to strike, but the cadets at a distance appeared oddly calm.

Before meeting them, Tetsu had resolved that if they attacked, he would respond in kind, and depending on the circumstances, he wouldn’t hold back the final blow. Losing a friend had shattered that restraint, but he had promised himself to use force only in self-defense, and this situation felt wrong.

A quick blink clarified that the main archers were equally confused. Tetsu held his ground and glanced over Alcer’s shoulder. “Is that so?” he murmured with a blink, allowing his inner Kile to take over.

A high-pitched scream pierced the air as Bomic collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony with a dagger lodged in his thigh. The illusion shattered, and Tetsu reacted in a flash, tightening his grip on Alcer to restrain the swordsman’s sword-wielding arm while sidestepping into Carl’s shadow to avoid the archers’ arrows.

Another dagger was affixed to Tetsu’s foot, which he aimed at Carl. “Explain,” Tetsu demanded with a chilling calm.

Alcer wanted to pull away, but Testu's higher attributes, a hefty boxer, and not to mention at least two months’ experience kept him restrained.

“My daggers,” Alcer stammered, a look of disbelief crossing his face.

“Sorry, I wasn’t given any, so I borrowed yours,” Tetsu deadpanned, his expression void of emotion. “I’ll return them once you confirm your stories.” With that, he pulled Alcer into a different location, thwarting the archer’s attempt to flank him. Tetsu aimed for a natural flow in his movements, aware that any additional maneuvers might expose him, so had to end the confrontation before his ruse was exposed.

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