Chapter 20 Power-Up
[ "Take this medicine according to prescription. Most of your wound had been healed but your veins still need more time to heal or you could take a High-rank potion. Either way, it is a shame that I don't have the chance to use the potion I developed, or do you want to try it. Maybe it will even heal your vein." ]
[ "Ehhh... . Thanks for your offer but I will have to decline." ]
The doctor really gives me a dangerous vibe. He seems very eager to experiment on my body.
( This man is really dangerous, I just hope he didn't give me anything strange when I was unconscious. )
[ "What a shame. You can leave tomorrow. You have to rest here for the rest of the day. Tell me if you feel any discomfort." ]
[ "Okay. Thank you." ]
The doctor went after checking the health monitor.
[ "Okay then. Status" ]
[Status]
===Status===
Name: Zero Elea
Rank: E -
Strength: E +
Speed: E
Stamina: E +
Mana: D
Luck: B
Charm: C +
- - > Skill:
[ Rank SS: Parallel Memory ]
A skill that enables the user to get the memories from their alternative self from another world.
Side Effect: The user may sometimes be overwhelmed by the emotion and personality of the alternative self.
- - > Art:
[ LVL 3: Shadow Style proficiency: Proficient ]
Art that enables the user to use the sword as if the sword is a shadow. The sword slash will be faster and stronger than a normal swing. After mastering the Shadow Style, the user will be able to move and attack using the shadow.
[ LVL 9: Cryomancy: Practitioner ]
Magic Art is said to be made by the strongest Ice mage in history after fighting the Ice dragon. The user will be able to use ice magic to freeze the enemy to death. The Ice related skill will be twice effective and the user will gain tolerance to Cold. After mastering the Cryomancy, the user may be able to freeze the world.
[LVL 6: Dual Art: Beginner ]
A unique Art created by Zero. The Art combines two Art into one. The power and effect depend on the Art that has been combined.
= = = = = = = =
I became happy after seeing my status screen. Not only did my mana increase but also the Dual Art was acknowledged as an Art by the Status. It means I would be able to wield this Art more easily in the future.
After one more day of rest, I was allowed to leave the hospital. I checked the news on my phone and most of it was about the incident at BloodyWolf forest.
' Shocking News! Seven students were killed in Ace Academy Test. '
' Devil Contractors targets Golden Generation '
' Ace Academy Failure! Rank-E Devil Contractors breach security of Rank-S ' ….
And much more similar headlines were popping in my newsfeed. The public was questioning the ability of the teacher of Ace Academy, not being able to stop the Devil Contractors from taking the lives of students.
The most popular news was the interview with the Head Teacher.
[ "Professor Delvin, What do you make of the incident? How did the Devil Contractors manage to enter the test area?" ]
[ "The Devil Contractors used an unknown teleportation device due to which they were able to successfully infiltrate our test ground. I have already reported this to The Authority. They would research a solution for this problem." ]
[ "People are saying that Ace Academy is incompetent and can't even prevent Rank-E Devil Contractors. What do you say to those people?" ]
[ "As a Head Teacher, I have indeed failed in my duties; allowing multiple casualties. However, I believe students are not someone that needs to be always protected by us, such things are common when exploring the dungeon, so they need to learn to survive by themselves. As the future protector of humans, they will face many dangers in the future. Our job is to make sure that they get powerful enough to be able to survive in those dangers." ]
[ "Sir, What do you think the objective of the Devil Contractors was?" ]
[ "We believe they are trying to eliminate our students when they are still weak. Especially since the strongest of Golden Generation attend our school." ]
[ "Strongest? Hiro Ernest! Are you saying that their main target is Hiro Ernest?" ]
[ "Though it is only my assumption however a Rank-D Devil Contractor was fighting with Hiro. And considering his potential we can say that they want to eliminate him before becoming their threat. However, there is no need to panic, Hiro is already able to fight with Rank-D Devil Contractor." ]
[ "Rank-D! Have Hiro defeated that Rank-D Devil Contractor?" ]
[ "Did Hiro reach Rank-D?" ]
[ "Impossible, he was only at Rank-E+ one month back." ]
[ "Sir, Can we have an interview with Hiro?" ] …
The interview with Head Teacher Delvin was intensifying with the reporter asking lots of questions about Hiro though Head Teacher refuse to disclose any more information on Hiro.
They were a lot of discussion on the words said by the professor which is Hiro being able to fight with Rank-D Devil Contractor. This was the tactic used by the Head Teacher to divert the attention of reporters from Ace Academy failure to the strength of Hiro Ernest.
They needed to prevent the public from questioning the Ace Academy's ability. It was already hard for them to reassure the parent of the students especially since seven of them died under their noses.
Lots of news also came out about Hiro Ernest.
' Hiro Ernest: The Next Rank-SSS.'
'First-Year already on par with Rank-D'
' Hiro trample down a Rank-D Devil Contractor.'…
I also check out the other news.
*** Inside an unknown place ***
[ "Hiro trample down a Rank-D Contractor? " ]
The phone was crushed. Veins were popping on his head. The person was the Devil Contractor who fought Hiro, the Leader who lead the assassination that day.
He failed the assassination of Hiro Ernest, the main objective of their mission. He was punished for failing the mission by his superior. He was ridiculed by other Devil Contractors and he lost his position as the leader of the assassination group.
Not only that he suffered from the side effect of using the fruit that is he became extremely weak that he couldn't even retaliate against the weaker Devil Contractors.
[ "Hahaha… Hiro Ernest just wait for me. I will take your head. Both the resource and fame will be mine after I kill you. I will certainly have my revenge after I recover. Hahaha…" ]
******
I have already got the information on what happened to other students from the news. It seems like seven students were killed in this incident. Devil Contractors used teleportation orb to escape, teleportation orb is currently an unknown technology possessed by the demons though it gets invented by humans in the future.
Hiro Ernest fought with Rank-D Devil Contractor and survived. Another news was about Sylvia and other students having killed multiple Rank-E including one Rank-E +.
I closed my phone and lay on the bed. I thought about the incident at BloodyWolf forest.
( I am too weak. If it was not for the other students and professor Mia saving me, right now I am probably dead.)
I even used my ace card Dual Art, and it worked however even with that I have failed to kill all my enemies, endangering my life.
Luckily, Kale and other students have helped me get out of the danger. Otherwise, I don't want to think about the consequences.
( And the novel direction has all gone wrong. The Devil Contractor Vice-Leader fights with the MC and his friend however, in reality, I had to fight with both the Vice-Leaders. Looks like I can't trust everything to happen as written in the novel. )
I changed the World. I took the LVL 9 Magic Art, I must have done other things that have affected the world. But I would not blame myself, if I didn't take the LVL 9 Magic Art then I might be already killed by the Devil Contractors.
I have tried to prevent any change in the world and made effort to keep it the same as the novel. However, even if I tried to keep the world similar to the novel, I failed.
( Instead of worrying about useless things such as keeping the things the same, I might as well try to improve my power. )
One of the things I learned from this incident is no matter what I do, things are bound to be different from the novel.
Another thing is that only after growing powerful would I survive in this chaotic world. It is just the beginning of the novel and I was on the verge of dying. In the coming days, I will definitely face a stronger enemy.
Whenever I think about it I become angry, I did all the useless things to keep the world the same as the novel. Chasing after Lisa, flirting with her, making a fool of myself; I already made lots of enemies due to that.
I really regret doing such things. I already threw the idea of confessing to Lisa in the dustbin. The world has already gone in a different direction, and I don't need to follow the novel.
I have to use my knowledge to my advantage. The weapon, Art, Skill, Elixir, and every other resource that can make me strong, I need to get them before others get them.
( … )
I thought about which item I should find. Weapons? but the effect will not be that great; the weapon I have is already good for my rank. Art? One of my Art is already of the highest level. Skill? only those at Rankin skill and above may help me, however, it is hard to get those even with my knowledge of the novel.
Elixir? Though I reached the Rank-E - recently, with enough elixir, I could quickly reach Rank-E. The easiest method of getting stronger is to rank up. What I need to do is to find the elixir.
The elixir is mostly found in the dungeon and is sold on the market at an astronomical amount. I don't have enough money to buy even Rank-F elixir, not to mention elixir to rank up at Rank-E.
Then the only option left is is to explore a dungeon. And from the knowledge of the novel, I already know a dungeon that has the item I want.
The Rank-E dungeon that is under the control of The Authority. Anyone at Rank-E - and above can enter after paying a fee. This dungeon has a hidden room where many Rank-E herbs grow. It also had the exact item I need, Galanthus Nivalis flower, a rank-E item.
I quickly wrote down everything I know about the dungeon on the notepad and also spend time researching the dungeon from the internet.
From the type of monster and traps to the type of environment in the dungeon. I need to make thorough research and come up with a good plan, after all, anything can happen in a dungeon. I have to plan for every unexpected problem that may occur.
Time to Power-Up!