12 Free

There was a list of all the participants on the noticeboard. The names were listed alphabetically with information whether you passed or not next to them.

'Michael Bertz - Passed.'

'Hehe.' I laughed happily in my head.

I was sure of passing the entrance exams after the offensive capabilities test, but seeing this, somehow made me proud of myself. All the training I did during the last two months finally paid off.

'Now, let's collect the student's ID card.'

I walked up to Olivia and asked.

"Do you know where the secretariat is?"

"Yeah, it's the same place where you registered for the entrance exams."

"I see."

Well, I didn't know that since Sarah was the one who signed me up.

"Let's go."

"Alright," I replied as I followed after Olivia.

The secretariat was inside the Teachers' Building. It was a small room, and there was a person inside.

"Names?" Asked the secretary after she saw us enter.

"Olivia Heart and Michael Bertz," Olivia answered.

The secretary quickly typed something on a keyboard and then confirmed our identities. After that, she took out two students' cards from her storage device.

"Here, don't lose it. Without it, you won't be able to attend classes, enter your dorms, etc." She said as she handed us the cards.

"Thank you."

After leaving the secretariat, I looked at the card to see its contents.

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

Name : Michael Bertz

Year : 1

Ranking : 784

[ Mana (G+) ] | [ Strength (-) ]

[ Agility (-) ] | [ Inteligence (-) ]

[ Max Attack (E) ] | [ Max Defense (-) ]

Class : [Choose Class]

Dorm : MA784

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

'Ranking 784, not bad, Sarah will be proud.' I thought to myself as a small smile appeared on my face.

'Except for my mana and max attack, my scores are below 2, so they don't have the rank yet.'

After looking at the stats, I clicked [Choose Class] on the card, and the screen on the card changed. It was almost like a smartphone, just way lighter and thinner.

―――――――――――――

Choose Role :

[Damage Dealer]

[Tank]

[Support]

[Non-combat]

[Other]

[Accept]

―――――――――――――

I chose Damage Dealer and clicked accept.

―――――――――――――

Choose Type :

[Ranged]

[Melee]

[Accept]

―――――――――――――

I chose both options and clicked accept.

―――――――――――――

Choose Class :

Recommended [Electro Mage]

[Mage]

[Archer]

[Swordsman]

[Accept]

―――――――――――――

'Oh, it recommended a class based on my performance on entrance exams. That's quite convenient. Well, I'm not going to choose it anyway.' I thought as I chose Mage and Swordsman and clicked Accept.

The loading screen appeared, which said "Allocating Subjects."

After a few seconds, the screen changed to the basic one, and a new button [Timetable] appeared along with my classes.

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

Name : Michael Bertz

Year : 1

Ranking : 784

[ Mana (G+) ] | [ Strength (-) ]

[ Agility (-) ] | [ Inteligence (-) ]

[ Max Attack (E) ] | [ Max Defense (-) ]

Class : [Mage] [Swordsman] | [Timetable]

Dorm : MA784

――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

After clicking Timetable, my lesson plan showed up on the screen. There was also information about the subject, teacher, and classroom number.

'The first class is... today? Oh, it's a homeroom. Hmm, it will start in 3 hours.' I thought as I looked at my schedule.

"What's your ranking?" Olivia asked.

"Mine is 784. What's yours?"

"I'm ranked 11th."

"I see- huh? 11th?"

"Yeah"

'I'm sure she was ranked 10th in the novel. Was it because of the dungeon incident?' I wondered.

That was the only reason that came to my mind.

Because I took some Special Points for myself, Olivia received fewer than she was supposed to.

I wouldn't care if it was the difference between rank 11th and 12th or 8th and 9th. But the problem was that the top 10 students received better rewards and resources that could help them improve faster.

Without these, her progress will slow down a lot.

'This is bad, this, is really bad. I need to do something and make Olivia reach at least the 10th place in the next exam.' I thought as I wondered how I could help her.

When I looked at her, I saw her a bit saddened, looking at her student's card.

'Arghh! Even though I was so careful!'

Olivia was important to the plot. Without her strength, I'm not sure if the main protagonist and his companions will be able to deal with future events.

Sure I could help them, but I would rather stay away from the plot as much as possible. It's just too bothersome and dangerous.

I don't need life and death situations. I don't need the recognition or harem like the main character. All I want is to live peacefully and enjoy my life.

'Haaaa.'

"I'm sorry," I murmured to myself.

"Huh?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing."

"Oh, okay."

'I'll think of a solution later, for now...'

"I'll be going to my dorm room. What about you?" I said.

"I guess I'll do the same." She replied, and we started walking towards the dorms.

...

'Room MA784... There it is.'

I unlocked the door with my student card and entered.

What awaited me inside was one bed, a desk with a chair, a wardrobe, and a door, probably, to the bathroom.

The first thing anyone would do was obviously to check the bathro-

"Ahh, this bed sure is comfy." I thought after I jumped on the bed and laid down comfortably.

'I wonder how Sarah is doing.' I thought as I looked at the ceiling.

During the past two months, I've become quite attached to her. I also didn't notice any change in her character. So it might happen after she comes back. I hope she will still be the same, though.

"Haa," I sighed.

'It's my first time wishing that my appearance in this world will change something.'

'What to do, what to do...' I wondered.

'I have more than 2 hours left until the homeroom starts. Should I scan my body in the meantime?'

I set an alarm clock and sat up on the bed. Then I closed my eyes and focused on circulating my mana inside my body.

As I slowly scanned through all the parts of my body, I noticed something close to my mana core in the abdomen.

'Hmm? What's this? Is this the irregularity Sarah talked about?'

'Why didn't I notice it before? Was it because my mana stat was too low? It's barely any difference, though.' I wondered as I tried to surround it with my mana and move it.

'Huh? Why can't I move it?'

The irregularity passed through my mana like ghosts through the walls.

'What's going on?'

I tried to move it a few more times, but it would always just pass through my mana.

'Why? Why won't it move?'

'There has to be a way!'

'Come on, Michael. Think, think...'

A weird thought came to my mind.

I gathered my mana, disappeared into the shadow for half a second, and appeared back. Then I checked the abdomen area with my mana.

'It's still there...'

'Right... Why would it work if I already have turned into the shadow many times before.'

'Wait. But what if?' Another idea popped up in my mind.

I gathered my mana and spread it to all the parts of my body like I always did when using <One with the Darkness (Active)[S][Lvl. 1]>. This time, however, before activating it, I took out the mana from the place where the irregularity was.

Once again, I disappeared into the shadow and reappeared back. Somehow, feeling a bit lighter.

'Let's see now.' I thought as I scanned the same place next to the mana core.

'Huh, huh?'

'It's not there... It's not there! It worked!' I exclaimed happily in my head.

"Status."

――――――――「 Status 」――――――――

Name : Michael Bertz

「 Stats 」

Rating : [1.33] +0.03

Vitality : [0.15] +0.05

Mana : [3.00] +0.10

Strength : [0.9]

Agility : [0.95]

Intelligence : [1.65]

Luck : [2.80]

Special Point 0.23

「 Skills 」

――――――――――――――――――――――

"My vitality is back!"

"Finally! I'm finally free from that fucking illness!" I screamed as I stood up from the bed and made a victorious pose.

"Haha-hahahah!"

*DRRRING*

Because of the excitement, I didn't notice it, but.

With the sound of the alarm clock interrupting my euphoric moment, a small window popped up in front of my face.

―――――――――「 Level UP! 」―――――――――

<One with the Darkness (Active)[S]> is now level 2.

New ability unlocked!

Lvl. 1 - You can become the shadow.

Lvl. 2 - You can make sharp shadow spikes rise from any shadow in your view. The spikes' power depends on the user's mana stat and the skill's level.

Lvl. 10 - ?

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

My brain froze while I was reading through the contents of the level-up window.

"Holy shit."

"Ho-ly-shit."

"Hoho, this ability is insane!"

"I wonder how much mana it consumes, though."

'I used up a little to turn into a shadow, so I'll check it later. I don't want to collapse and miss the homeroom class.'

'Speaking of homeroom, what time is it?' I thought and then looked at the time on my NEARWatch.

It was 13:54.

'6 minutes left. I better get going, or I'll be late.' I thought as I went to the door and left my dorm room.

To be continued

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