"?!"
Caleb stood there, completely speechless, staring at the luxurious carriage. "W-what? How?"
Igris smirked, lazily waving his hand from the window. "Just get in first. I’ll explain on the way."
Noticing that the surrounding students were beginning to stare and point at him, Caleb quickly scrambled into the plush interior of the carriage and pulled the heavy door shut.
"This is wild," Caleb breathed, sinking into the velvet cushions. He was stunned for a mont, but then his face turned dead serious. He looked at Igris suspiciously. "Did you steal this from soone?"
Igris laughed softly. "How is that even possible? Let’s just say Arian Nickel had a sudden change of heart and decided to let stay in the top mansion. The carriage ca with the estate."
"Hm? You’re staying at Building 1? Arian let you stay there? T-that seems highly unlikely..." Caleb scratched his head in utter confusion. He knew Arian’s arrogant reputation.
"No need to overthink it," Igris waved his hand dismissively, smoothly changing the subject. "Co to think of it, with all the chaos earlier, I didn’t even ask what Talent you awakened."
Caleb smiled embarrassedly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just a D-Rank Talent. Stone-Body."
Igris raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise. That was truly impressive. He himself had stopped at D-Rank and knew exactly how difficult and traumatizing it was to kill your fellow humans to get there.
"With a Talent like that, you’re practically destined to unlock a high-tier Tank Class," Igris joked, giving Caleb an approving nod. "You definitely have the body for it anyway. You’re a walking fortress."
"Oh, shut up!" Caleb shoved Igris playfully with his elbow, though a proud smile tugged at his lips.
The two friends joked and discussed their future prospects as the carriage smoothly descended the mountain.
A few dozen minutes later, the carriage rolled to a gentle stop.
"We have arrived, Master," Jas the coachman called out.
"Let’s go."
Caleb and Igris stepped out of the carriage. Before them stood a massive, dieval-style stone building with towering pillars. Hundreds of freshn wearing the signature Marlin Academy camouflage jackets were nervously filing inside.
"There’s no need to wait for , Jas. You can head back to the estate," Igris instructed.
Jas bowed deeply. With a nod of acknowledgnt, he climbed back into the conductor’s seat, whipped the reins, and guided the Windmane Horses back up the mountain path.
"Alright," Igris sighed, adjusting his jacket. "Let’s see what our first class is all about."
Both Igris and Caleb joined the massive crowd of about sixteen hundred surviving freshn, funneling into the grand auditorium.
The murmuring of the massive crowd died down instantly as an Instructor walked out from a side entrance and stepped up to the podium.
The Instructor was a breathtakingly handso High Elf. Instead of traditional armor or robes, he wore a tailored, pitch-black suit with no tie, and a pair of sleek, red-tinted designer glasses. He looked more like a high-fashion model than a veteran warrior.
"My na is Feinrier, and I am here to orient you on the realities of the First Dinsion," his voice echoed smoothly across the hall.
Instructor Feinrier’s golden, sun-like eyes swept over the 1,600 teenagers seated before him. They were so young, yet every single one of them had blood on their hands. Every single one of them was a killer. That was what the System had turned humanity into.
"There are rumors," Feinrier began, pacing slowly, "that the Nine Divine Gods created these nine dinsions to seal away an ancient Demon God. Of course, there are other rumors which state the Divine Beings simply needed a private realm for their cosmic orgies, so they built this place."
A ripple of nervous chuckles spread through the student body at the sheer blasphemy of the statent.
"But none of that matters to you," Feinrier’s tone suddenly dropped, turning ice-cold. "Nor does it change your absolute purpose as an Awakened Player. Your only goal in this universe is to beco stronger. To do that, you must kill, loot, and level up. It is the only tric of worth."
He tapped the podium. "You were taught the theories back on Earth for the past year, but let remind you of the basics. The grade of your Talent dictates your comprehension speed. An S-Rank Godscion processes martial knowledge 10 tis faster than an A-Rank, 20 tis faster than a B-Rank, and 60 tis faster than a F-Rank."
Feinrier paused, letting the words sink into their brains.
"They also unlock racial skills faster. They evolve their bloodlines faster. This is why people gamble their lives in the Culling Ga. Because an S-Rank Talent is a fighter jet, and the rest of you are crawling through the mud. For example, our Academy’s famous Magic BattleVeins technique typically takes an A-Rank student a full month to open three veins. An S-Rank will do it in ten days. They reach the pinnacle of any combat skill or technique with terrifying ease, effortlessly suppressing anyone of the sa level."
He pushed his red-tinted glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Now, regarding Levels. It is incredibly difficult to level up. To gain a single level, you must kill 10 monsters of your exact level, or 20 monsters half your strength. By the ti you reach Level 5, the requirent doubles. At Level 10, it triples. By Level 30, you must slaughter 50 equally ranked beasts just to see a sliver of progress."
Even though the students knew the theory, hearing the difficulty made many of them shake their heads in despair. This was exactly why high-level Players were treated like royalty on Earth.
"When you reach Level 10, you will be eligible for a Class Change. The System will assign you a Class based on your utilized techniques, your battle style, your kill count, your lethality, and most importantly... your Talent. If you are unsatisfied with the Class you receive, you may enter the Culling Ga to fight for a better one, or die trying."
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