Chapter 70: Killed in Class?

The flurry of notification messages assaulted Arlo’s vision.

"I have successfully evolved!"

He said with a beaming smile, jumping to his feet.

"Strong... I have grown stronger!"

Clenching his fist, he could feel the pure brute force contained within it.

But before he could fully bask in the sensation of having grown stronger, the sight of the sun slowly appearing over the horizon snapped him out of it, reminding him that it was almost time for class.

The terrible smell made his nose wrinkle, causing him to immediately rush for the cleaning equipment and get to work.

Ten minutes later, Arlo was already done, with the only thing remaining being the terrible smell on his own body.

Instantly, he made his way to the bathroom to wash himself up.

SPLASSSSH!

The sound of water splashing onto the tiled floor echoed through the bathroom, a small pool of dark red liquid mixing beneath his feet as Arlo felt his hot body relax beneath the cold shower.

Turning to look at the mirror before him, his eyes flashed in shock as he stared at the figure reflected within it.

Slowly, he turned his head to look behind him, searching for whoever the hell was standing there, yet there was no one at all.

The strange scene continued for the next thirty seconds, and only then did the truth finally become clear to Arlo.

"This... this is me?" he couldn’t help but ask in shock.

[Yes. You just kept adding points to Charm without ever looking in a mirror since you arrived here.]

[The Charm points caused you to shed your skin, revealing the new layer beneath it. That’s why you look so... different.]

The System’s words made a slight flash appear in Arlo’s eyes as he immediately caught something he could use against it.

"When you say different, what you mean is handsome, good-looking, and an impeccable man, isn’t it?"

Arlo asked with a grin as a snort rang in his head.

[You idiot. Being handsome never does a man any good! It makes you look like a weakling.]

[You should have a big scar running down your left eye, three claw marks crossing diagonally over your chest, and an uncountable number of sword marks across your back and body!]

[Now that’s what I would have called a charming man.]

The system said in disdain, but Arlo wasn’t offended in the slightest.

"All I hear is the noise of an envious person..." he replied while grabbing a towel and moving out of the bathroom.

[Hmph, we’ll see how good your Charm is in the future.]

____________

"Today, we have a new member joining the class. Even though he joined as a lab intern, he’s quite a special lab intern..." the class teacher, a lanky Vorath man wearing spectacles and holding a large book, said as the small class of around thirty teenagers turned their gazes toward the door.

"A male, and the personal lab intern of one of the most reputable professors in the academy."

"The lab intern of Professor Igris himself," Mr. Ian announced as the entire class heard the sound of footsteps stopping just outside the door.

"You can come in..."

The door creaked open as a person who made everyone freeze in place, entered the room.

"Come here, handsome one..." Mr. Ian called as Arlo walked to the teacher’s side.

He placed one hand on Arlo’s shoulder and turned him to face the entire class.

"Can you introduce yourself to the class?" he asked with a wide smile.

Arlo turned his attention to the entire class.

He was more than used to introducing himself and wasn’t the least bit scared, even if he had to stand before a crowd of millions.

Deep-seated confidence mixed with a slight amount of pride was a necessity for all princes.

"Hello, class. I am Arlo. Arlo Eclipsion. It’s my pleasure to meet you all..." he greeted, but his words were met with jealous snickers, and feigned blank expressions.

"Hmph! Why is he only arriving a week after classes started? There’s a lot that he has already missed."

A young man with strange purple hair, two horns, and a pair of spectacles asked as he lightly adjusted them, staring firmly at Arlo.

"Good question and a reasonable thought, Vael. The reason is because he was only recently accepted as a lab intern."

"Also, since you seem to care so much due to your kindred heart, from now on, I’ll be putting him under your care."

"You will make sure that within three days; he catches up with everything he missed last week..."

Mr. Ian said as giggles rang throughout the class and Vael’s face turned red.

"What the!? But, sir, I never asked for this..." Vael protested.

"No, you didn’t. I did," Mr. Ian replied as Vael’s face dimmed.

"Now, Eimi, if you don’t mind, you’ll allow Arlo to take your seat beside Vael. A noble sacrifice for the betterment of your own race. What do you say?"

Mr. Ian asked as Arlo turned to the girl sitting beside Vael, who looked him up and down before a grin appeared on her face.

"Of course, I would. But he’ll owe me one..." she said.

"Of course, you both can work that out later." Mr. Ian replied as Eimi packed her bag before moving to a seat at the far edge of the class.

[Great. Now you already owe someone less than two seconds after entering your class!]

The System notification panel flickered before Arlo, who could only roll his eyes at it.

"Good. Now, Arlo, go take your seat. Vael is the nicest guy in the class, well, the nicest one I know of."

"He’ll teach you everything you need to know..." Mr. Ian said as Arlo nodded before moving toward his seat, ignoring the prickling gazes of the entire class, especially that of Vael, who no doubt wanted to rip him apart with his eyes.

If looks could kill, Arlo would probably have died a thousand times already.

"With that settled, let’s immediately get back to class.

"The majority of last week was mostly spent allowing you all to gain a basic understanding of the academy and what will be required of you in this class."

"This is a new week, and the real lessons will now begin."

All notes and pens out..." Mr. Ian said as he walked toward the blackboard, followed by the sounds of books being placed on desks and pen caps being removed throughout the classroom.

’I don’t remember being given those...’

Arlo thought to himself, but a notebook and black pen soon appeared on his desk, causing him to turn toward the hand that slowly retreated from them.

"You owe me one..." Vael whispered before turning his attention back to the teacher.

"Thank you..."

"This class will teach you everything you need to know about Mana. From the grades and types of Mana-to-Mana manipulation, the history behind Mana, and its various applications."

"Everything related to this topic will be taught by me, and by the end of this class, I expect your control over Mana to be as good as this..."

Mr. Ian said as he suddenly stretched out his left hand toward them, and in the next instant, Mana bloomed as a gigantic sword appeared in his grasp.

A second later, the sword exploded into a puff of smoke before reforming into a gigantic bow, which also burst apart before transforming into a gigantic axe.

In the next instant, the axe began enlarging until it reached the ceiling, its edge gleaming even sharper than a blade.

"Can you all dodge this?" Mr. Ian asked, and in the next instant...

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

The sound of the air being sliced apart rang out as Mr. Ian flung the axe toward them, its sharp edge cleaving toward all of their necks at once.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Screams of shock rang throughout the classroom, with some students only managing to raise their hands over their faces before the axe cleaved through, while others simply sat rooted in shock, watching helplessly as the weapon came toward them.

The only thing Arlo could do at the last second was duck his head toward the ground to avoid having his neck sliced off.

But even after waiting for more than ten seconds, he couldn’t hear the sound of blood splashing against the floor and walls, and as he slowly raised his head, he saw Mr. Ian standing there with a mocking grin on his face.

"And you all successfully fell for it, well, almost all of you..."

Mr. Ian said as the class slowly raised their heads, while some opened their eyes once more, only to find that their necks were still intact.

"Only a single one among you didn’t even try to dodge, able to see through the technique at first glance."

"You all could sense the power within the axe formed from Mana, yet it did you no harm."

"Would you mind explaining to us such a strange phenomenon, Emrys?"

Mr. Ian asked as the entire class directed their attention toward a single seat, and Arlo also curiously turned his gaze, spotting a young man with the most unreadable expression he had ever seen.

He looked neither happy nor sad, smart-looking nor dumb, playful nor serious.

He was simply blank, with eyes that drooped slightly, making him look like someone witnessing something boring, though even that couldn’t be confirmed.

"The axe really had enough power to cleave through our necks..." he began, his voice just like his face, as poker-faced as ever, brimming with no particular emotion and revealing nothing about his inner state.