Ch.1918. First Day (3)

# 18. First Day (3)

“Not using your sword?”

Chris was looking at my empty hands.

As he pointed out, I hadn’t summoned the [Sword of Darkness].

“Just keeping things fair.”

With those words, I activated [Mortal’s End].

My heart was in pain, but my body was infused with formidable power.

My body became stronger, more agile, and more durable.

And normally, Chris’s stats should have been reduced due to the intimidation effect.

[[Gabriel’s Blessing] completely negates the intimidation effect.]

But it didn’t work on him.

His rank must be high enough that it was “completely” negated.

Chris said with a confident expression:

“Come at me.”

Those words triggered an instantaneous start to our duel.

Chris immediately threw a punch toward my face.

-Thud!-

I barely blocked his fist with one hand.

His heavy punch gave me an unimaginable shock.

‘Why is he so strong?’

I managed to block it, but my hand took tremendous strain.

Chris continued punching at me.

-Thwack! Thwack!-

The martial art he was using was the traditional fighting style of the Kainis Empire.

It was the same as what I used in my past life, yet slightly different.

“Are you really a priest?”

Chris had always boasted tremendous combat ability despite being a priest.

That’s why not having to focus on defense was a huge advantage for him.

“Of course.”

He used holy power to heal himself.

It was powerful holy energy, as if proving to me that he was indeed a priest.

I couldn’t let this fight with Chris drag on.

Especially for someone like me.

‘This is getting dangerous.’

My heart was already starting to hurt.

Perhaps because my rank was low, my life force was draining at an alarming rate.

“Struggling already? So soon?”

“It’s a bit tough.”

I couldn’t just keep defending, so I threw punches at Chris.

-Thud! Thwack!-

Chris seemed surprised by my martial arts.

“You… how do you…?”

The fighting style I was using was the same one he used.

“Where did you learn that?”

I had learned it from Chris himself, but I couldn’t tell him that.

“From my best friend.”

I drove my fist into that best friend’s stomach.

“Ugh!…”

He staggered from my punch but quickly regained his composure.

Then, as he straightened up, he struck my face.

-Thud!-

With a loud sound, red liquid flowed from my nose.

I wiped the nosebleed with my sleeve and kicked Chris.

“Urk!…”

As the distance between us widened, Chris tried to heal himself with holy power, and I rushed in to prevent it.

I closed the distance with Chris and this time threw a punch at his face.

-Thwack!-

Chris was knocked back by the impact and fell to the ground.

Wanting to end this soon, I quickly summoned my sword.

Then, pointing the blade at his neck, I said:

“Let’s stop here.”

Chris looked disappointed but acknowledged his defeat and ended the duel.

He healed my wounds and said:

“You’re pretty good.”

“I almost lost.”

“What do you mean almost lost? I just let you win.”

Chris didn’t believe me, but I really had almost lost.

Due to the penalty from [Mortal’s End], I only had 10% of my life force remaining.

If the fight had dragged on a little longer, I would have lost.

“Phew.”

I caught my breath and rested.

Raicle spoke to me as I lay on the ground enjoying the rest.

“Why didn’t you use your sword?”

“Because I could win without it.”

“Wow… that hurts my pride.”

This was only possible because everyone had only undergone their first awakening.

I don’t know when everyone’s second awakening will be, but when that time comes, I won’t be able to guarantee victory against these guys.

“But when did you complete your second awakening?”

“A while ago.”

Not just a while, but several decades ago.

“You must have struggled a lot, second awakening at your age.”

“I did struggle.”

“Everyone, please gather around.”

Somehow, the second class was already ending.

“Starting from next time, your performance will count toward your grades, so please do your best. I’ll post the tournament bracket in the group chat this evening.”

As Gloria finished speaking, the bell signaling the end of class rang.

All the students left the training ground to prepare for their next class.

“Let’s go too.”

We were about to return to the classroom.

However, at that moment, someone entered the training ground.

And with that person’s appearance, my status window reacted.

[Absolute Loyalty has been activated.]

[All stats increase by 10% when with your lord (Elizabeth Michael).]

[Your lord (Elizabeth Michael) feels affection for her faithful knight (Albert Veros).]

‘My Empress…’

When I looked at her, she was looking at me too.

I approached her and greeted her.

“Hello.”

“Oh… hi. Are you guys also in combat class?”

“Yes, we just finished.”

I said goodbye to her and left the training ground.

Raicle and Chris followed me out with puzzled expressions.

Then Chris asked me:

“Are you close with that senior?”

“A little?”

“Really?”

Both Chris and even Raicle seemed surprised that I was close with her.

“Why are you so surprised?”

“You really don’t know why I’m asking?”

“Why?”

“That senior is the top student in the third year!”

Of course she would be first.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that no high school student in this world could defeat her after her first awakening.

Probably even I, who am currently enjoying the benefits of my skills, wouldn’t stand a chance against her.

She’s that strong.

“So?”

“You’re really something…”

“Is it that big a deal?”

“Of course it is. If you could introduce me to her…”

I said in a firm voice:

“Shut up.”

When I glared at him with contempt, Chris hurriedly explained:

“No, it’s not what you’re thinking.”

“What is it then?”

“I want to join her party.”

“That would be difficult.”

“Of course it would be!”

Chris was looking at me with sparkling eyes, pleading.

“But I don’t think it’ll happen.”

“Why? Were you rejected too?”

“No, the opposite actually.”

Chris was lost in thought for a moment, then suddenly shouted at me:

“You rejected her?!”

“Yeah, she asked me to join her party once.”

“When?”

“The first day of the ranking tournament.”

“And you rejected her?”

“Yeah.”

Chris stared at me with an incredulous look.

“Do you know how hard it is to get into her party?”

“Somewhat?”

“Then why didn’t you join??”

“I’m not the party type.”

I was always a loner, so I was a novice when it came to parties.

Even when I formed a party with Chris, it became a good party because of our individual skills rather than our compatibility.

“That’s a shame. But how did your sister get in?”

“She said they became friends.”

Chris said with an exasperated expression:

“I want to be friends with her too…”

Chris returned to the classroom with a dejected look.

***

After the third class ended, we went to the cafeteria for lunch.

“You’re eating something expensive?”

Chris was drooling as he looked at my 15,000 won school meal.

“Why did you order something so cheap?”

‘This rich guy.’

Chris’s father was not only a marquis with a high rank but also possessed tremendous wealth befitting his status.

And here was the son of such a father, ordering a 5,000 won school meal and envying someone else’s food…

“I’m short on money…”

What on earth had he been doing to be short on money?

“What did you spend it on?”

“I bought armor.”

Armor?

Items do tend to be quite expensive.

Especially those with good performance.

“How much was it?”

“15.”

“15 million won?”

“No?”

He shook his head.

‘No way?’

With a suspicion in mind, I said:

“150 million?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“You’re the one using expensive stuff!”

150 million isn’t extremely expensive, but for a student, it’s an astronomical price.

It’s an item with a price I couldn’t even imagine affording right now.

“What’s the effect?”

“40% defense boost and life regeneration buff.”

“Wow…”

150 million is expensive, but for that performance, it’s definitely a good item.

“If you had worn that, I would have lost.”

“Yeah, too bad.”

Raicle, who had been quietly eating while looking at his phone, spoke up:

“You guys should check the news.”

“The news?”

“Yeah, the news.”

Hearing his words, I turned on my phone.

‘What’s going on?’

I scrolled through the news, trying to recall.

The articles contained shocking news.

Many reporters were reporting that the Kingdom of Babylon had waged war against the Kingdom of Orion.

Hearing this news, I finally remembered.

‘March 1, 675.’

Today’s date.

This is the day King Bael of Babylon first waged war.

Using this war as a starting point, the Kingdom of Babylon would go on to wage war against several neighboring countries.

‘Bael, it begins…’

The king of Babylon, also known as the Demon King, Bael, had been provoking other countries by flaunting his military power.

Of course, until now, it hadn’t led to actual war.

But this time is different.

As many talented individuals emerged from the Kingdom of Babylon, he relied on them to wage war.

“War? Wow… there were signs of this coming, but… there’s really a war now.”

Chris couldn’t hide his shock as he looked at his phone.

“We need to be careful too…”

As Raicle said, from this point on, Bael would occasionally provoke the Kainis Empire as well.

And in fact, one month later, a tremendous event would occur in the Kainis Empire.

‘I must prevent that at all costs.’