Chapter 33 - gating know more about the world

Chapter 33: Chapter 33 - gating know more about the world

After that we went to the classroom and sat down in our usual seats.

I looked at Nyx. "Hey, Nyx, what are you doing after this class? I’m going to the training room for archery.

I really want to get to know it. It’s so convenient if I know more weapons, even if they are at a basic level."

She thought for a moment and replied, "Hm. I need to think about it."

"Hm. On second thought, I’ll attend the combat class."

I nodded and replied to her, "Hm. That’s a good choice. Can you tell the instructor I went to practice archery?"

"If he asks why, tell him I said I want to be Robin Hood."

Nyx laughed a little.

The other people in the class gave us some strange looks because they knew we went to the tower and cleared a floor already, and here we are fooling around.

Then Miss Selena entered the room.

We went quiet as soon as she arrived.

She studied the whole classroom, and after seeing all of us stay quiet, she nodded.

Then she started to talk. "Okay. You have the chance to enter the tower. Now you can get stronger by it."

"Remember, each floor you conquer, you get more resources from the academy. And once you go to floor 10, you are no longer needed to come to the academy. After that point you can enter the tower and stay there. Once you finish a floor, you can stay on that floor."

"From then on you can decide to stay at the tower or come out and live among the outside world."

"But remember, the academy doesn’t do this only for your sake. There’s a massive shield powered up by that tower to keep away those alien creatures. So it gets power by how many people clear the tower missions and ascend the floors. So if you enjoy the benefits of this academy, you have to at least conquer 50 floors."

A wave of whispers spread through the hall.

I looked at Nyx and asked casually, "So what are you going to do? Stay at the tower or return?"

She stayed silent for a moment and replied with a cold voice that even surprised me. "I’ll stay at the tower, but as soon as I get strong enough, I’ll return for my revenge."

I looked at her and nodded. I’m not going to ask what revenge or revenge against who. Those are foolish questions. I heard about her family situation. She is the only survivor, and even that, she barely survived.

Some noble family plotted against her family and systematically killed each one until only she was left.

And she disappeared and appeared at the academy exam, so she is protected by the academy from that family.

I sighed internally and looked ahead. Now is not the time to talk.

Then Miss Selena continued. "Before you leave the academy and go to the tower, you have to sign a blood oath that you will do your best to reach the fiftieth floor in the tower."

"If anybody thinks they can mooch off academy resources without any obligations, you are heavily mistaken. But we are not imposing this on you. If you don’t agree with this, you can leave the academy. But remember, once you receive the second-floor resources from the academy, don’t even think about leaving."

"Because if you do, we will hunt you." A chilling smile stayed on her lips that sent a chill running down my spine.

Then her expression went totally normal, and she said, "Okay. Now those things I said are over. Let’s start today’s class. Today we do mana control."

"Release your mana and try to shape it. I’m not talking about elemental control. I’m talking about pure mana."

My eyes widened. I never even thought about using normal mana.

My eyes lit up. New experiments.

So I used my raw mana. Each person’s mana is a different color. Some people’s mana is black. Some have red. But mine is blue, and I looked at Nyx. Her mana is blue too.

I got close to her and whispered, "Wow. We both got the same color mana. We are so compatible. We must be soulmates."

She looked at me, her eyes twitching so hard, and she replied, "You... only have those kinds of thoughts inside your head."

I looked at her, thought for a moment, and said, "What else? I saw you and thought you are really beautiful, so I decided to chase after you, and I found out you also have a similar personality as me. So what’s wrong with that?"

"What do you expect me to do, live a bland life even without a girlfriend? So what do you think? Do you want to be..."

She cut me off. "You... are so shameless. You never fail to surprise me."

Then she looked away and concentrated on her mana control.

And Miss Selena arrived beside me. "Hm. Student Asher, don’t you think that’s enough flirting for today? Focus on your training."

She smiled beside me.

I looked at her and returned her smile. "Oh, Miss Selena, it’s good weather, isn’t it? How’s things going?"

Her eyes twitched for a moment, and she replied, "Oh, my day is going totally fine, if some students would work hard rather than flirting with other students who are working and distracting them too."

Aaa, Miss Selena didn’t let me have any leeway.

But I decided to be shameless until the end. "Yeah, Miss Selena. If something like that happens to me, I get a little bit annoyed too."

Then I immediately got into my mana control and made it as a thin layer of coating on my arm.

And I showed it to Miss Selena, who looked at me with amusement, and I asked, "Miss Selena, am I doing it right?"

She looked at that thin layer of mana and nodded. "It’s not what I intended, but that’s a way to use it, and that’s the first step into aura creation and control."

My eyes widened, and Miss Selena looked at my reaction and nodded to herself, thinking that was the reaction she expected.

But I looked at her and asked, "What is aura, Miss? This is the first time I heard about it."

She almost stumbled, and she looked at me with surprise. "You don’t know aura?"

I just shook my head, because I really don’t know what aura means.

She studied me as if confirming I wasn’t lying, and after considering what she heard about my rumors about being from the slums, and I never refused them, she understood.

Then she looked at Nyx and said, "You can ask that from your friend. She’ll tell you. I have to look at other students’ progress."

I looked at her and nodded. I understand. I’m not the only student she has to take a look at, so this is completely normal.

And she left.

I maintained my mana coating and tried to move my hand. A blue light could be seen from my hand.

Then I stopped it and made it into a small ball.

It’s easy for me, who controls my element perfectly. I practiced countless hours controlling my element. Every free time I got, I practiced it, because I deeply want to become powerful more than anything.

I went and made that ball into different kinds of shapes, and a mischievous thought appeared.

So I made it into the shape of a heart and looked at Nyx with an exaggerated expression and extended it to her. "See? This symbolizes my love for you, my meal t—"

"No, I mean Nyx. Why, Nyx?" Her mouth twitched.

She got a mischievous thought as well, put on a delightful expression, and said, "Oh, really? Then if I become your girlfriend, you’re going to take care of my food expenses and be ready to bear the financial responsibility of a girlfriend?"

I looked at her, my eyes widened, and I stammered, "Aa, I... we should take things slow. I’m not ready for that kind of great duty. As for now, we become friends, and once I’m rich..."

I stopped for a moment and thought, What? When I’m rich? That’s not right. So I corrected my words.

"Once you become rich enough to support me, let’s take that step."

She said that as a joke, but seeing my reply she had a massive inclination to hit me.

I just smiled at her, and she just sighed. "What am I expecting from an idiot like you?"

Then the class time was over, and when we left the class I asked about the aura.

She explained it, that aura is an energy like mana, another kind of energy used in battle, and it’s very strong.

It can be coated onto anything, a weapon, a body, and even a powerful person can use it to control things, like restraining others and moving things only by will, and it has many applications.

I listened to it. The more I listened, the more my eyes lit up.

And she waved at me and left for combat class. I went to a training room to practice archery.