Nice with some company!

'My head hurts...'

When I opened my eyes, I had quickly found myself in a very familiar white room, lying in one of the many beds in the infirmary.

Yet, contrary to my aching head and body, I still couldn't help but smile.

'I did it!'

===Status===

Name: Alex Winter

Class: Psion

Level: 7

Strength: 3

Agility: 4

Stamina: 7

Intelligence: 19

Free stat points: 0

Mana: 95/95

Skills: [Telekinesis], [Mind Spike], [Illusion]

Talents: [Mana control - Rank 2], [Mental magic - Rank 1]

==========

It didn't come as a huge surprise that the skill I acquired was to create illusions, as it was very much related to the theme of mental magic, but it was still more than interesting enough to make me excited for the future.

Just like with the other skills, I was also ingrained with a bit of knowledge about how the skill worked, although I was absolutely going to spend some time reading through the information about it in the guidebook later on.

In many ways, it worked in a similar way to Mind Spike, but instead of shocking the mind of someone, it was able to show them specific images. Just like with Mind Spike, the effectiveness of it most likely depended on the victim's mental strength in comparison to mine.

It was a shame that I wasn't able to create illusions independent of another living being's mind, but I wasn't in a position to complain.

*Bing!*

'Again?!'

==========

All three core skills of the Psion class have been unlocked!

As a reward, you will now be able to check the stats of the main cast in the guidebook!

(P.S: Due to your unfortunate situation, the daily missions have been canceled for the day)

==========

'You are actually looking at me, aren't you?'

It was a weird feeling, knowing that the man I had known as some random author was currently watching me live out his wicked fantasy, but I was still thankful that I wouldn't have to force myself to train today.

"But isn't this pretty good?"

To be able to check the stats of the main characters of the novel... didn't this mean I could keep a pretty good eye on how they all developed?

It wasn't as if I could remember exactly how strong they were during every event that would occur, but even without making that direct comparison, I still felt like it could be pretty useful.

*Click*

The door to the very empty infirmary suddenly opened and, from it, someone who I hadn't expected to see showed up.

"You're awake."

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Froid had come to the infirmary looking almost just as intimidating as ever with his large build and short, dark hair. Almost, because his face wore a slight tint of some other emotion that I had a hard time reading.

As he took a seat beside the bed, I was still not quite able to make out what it was.

"How are you feeling?"

"A bit sore, but I'll probably be fine after resting a bit more."

"That's good."

Almost as if he wasn't sure what to say next, the conversation quieted down and we were left with a very suffocating silence.

'Awkward...'

Consciously, I knew that only a few minutes passed, but due to the silence, it felt a lot longer than that in my head. Then, just as I was about to say anything just to get rid of it, Mr. Froid finally opened his mouth again.

But it was difficult to say that it made things better.

"Alex, are you sure that you are suited to be here?"

A hard-hitting question and a question that might have made a pretty large impact on me if it wasn't for the fact that it wasn't as if I had a choice in the matter. In reality, it didn't matter if I was suited for the academy or not.

Naturally, and unfortunately, that wasn't something I could tell my teacher, but I could at least try my best to communicate my sincere emotions about the matter.

"It doesn't matter whether or not I'm suited to be here, instructor Froid. I am here, and I am planning on staying here even if that means that I might have to struggle a bit."

His dark eyes opened up for a second before he quickly regained his composure. Following this, he stood up, proving that he at least didn't view my response as dissatisfactory.

"I see. I'll see you tomorrow, Alex. Rest well."

However, just before he was about to leave the room, he had one last question to throw at me.

"You know, I spoke with Samantha before I came here, and she said something pretty interesting. That last attack... did you get hit on purpose?"

'She noticed?'

There was only one way to answer this question, and it was absolutely not by telling him the truth.

"Get hit on purpose? Hahaha, no way! I'm not a masochist."

His eyes were colored with skepticism, but he still decided to accept my answer.

"...alright."

*Click*

And then, he finally left.

=========

The next few days passed a lot faster than I would've liked them to, and as the magical arts class ended, it wasn't long until we would be going up against the B-class tomorrow.

After the sparring session on Monday, there had been no more missions for me other than the daily training mission, which had allowed me to concentrate on simply growing stronger. I had even managed to endure the PE course thanks to my increased stamina. Sort of. I might not have been able to perform as well as the others, but I had at the very least not fainted.

Exiting the magical arts building, I was yet again greeted by the warm sun looking down on the world with a smile, illuminating the campus and all the students that were walking around on it.

Today, I had no plans on going to the library. At this point, I had a pretty good grasp of this world. Not an expert by any means, but I now had a passable level of knowledge about it. However, something I still had no information about at all was the B-class.

To be completely fair, it was entirely possible that I had seen some of them walking around the academy, but as I didn't know who they were or what they looked like, I couldn't confirm or deny that thought.

'I barely even know the people from my own class...'

I had no memories from the novel regarding the B-class but I also had a feeling that I would be in trouble if I underestimated them because of that.

This was one of the reasons why I was currently walking around campus, connecting my mind to all kinds of different students around me to see if anyone could feel what I was doing.

And the results were pretty interesting.

Even though I didn't activate any skills, most students didn't react at all, but a few of them started scanning the area while wearing confused faces. Yet, no one seemed to be able to determine that I was the one connecting my mind to them.

So far, I had learned two things.

There were a lot more people reacting when I began to channel mana into a skill, even without me activating it, and the longer I held a connection to someone, the more likely they seemed to be to notice that something was wrong.

To some extent, I knew that I was acting recklessly, but as I had no other way of practicing my ability, I didn't feel like I had much of a choice. I needed to know more about it, not the actual skills, but just the connection part in itself.

I somehow had a feeling that just by doing this, I was quickly getting closer to unlocking more skills, all of which had the underlying requirement of connecting my mind to another.

'It's just a shame that I will probably not be able to use these skills tomorrow without risking getting exposed.'

Tomorrow was the day when we would not only find out our rankings, but we would also be venturing out to a part of the forest where we would compete against the B-class in something Mr. Froid had called simulated combat.

No matter what we were going to do, or how we were going to compete, I knew that I...

*Bump*

In the middle of my little walk, my body suddenly made an impact with something, making me fall down onto my butt. Looking up, I was met by a pretty surprised face connected to a massive body.

"Alex? Hahaha! What are you doing?"

I had somehow managed to walk into Thomas the tank, who now smiled widely at me as he stretched out an arm to help me off the ground.

"I was just... lost in thought."

When I took hold of his hand, it felt like he more or less lifted my entire body up with ease, making me land on my feet again.

"Lost in thought? You do that a lot, don't you? So, what are you up to?"

"I was just going to get something to eat before..."

"Me too! Let's go together then! Stephen said that he had some stuff to do, so it would be nice with some company!"

I had no idea how it came to be, but before I knew it, I was sitting with Thomas at one of the many tables inside the cafeteria, still confused about what happened.