The Challenge
"I was just thinking of something, so I thought a wine and deep thinking go together," Blake bluffed, while withdrawing a bottle of wine and placing his hand with the necklace under the bottle, concealing it. He just prayed Scarlett didn't notice his robbery.
"What were you thinking?" Scarlett asked curiously.
"I was thinking that, since we absorb only cores from beasts, how does the darkness element in the cosmic energy affect us?" Blake asked curiously. Although he bluffed at first, the question was genuine.
"When you get to the level of elemental transcendent, you will interact with external elements. Without external elements, your core might… forget about it. When you get to college, you will learn theoretical elemental studies." Scarlett gave up on replying to his question.
"What's your account number?" Scarlett asked.
"I don't have one," Blake said calmly.
"Then why did you let me go to the room? Here are five thousand cosmic dollars. You can get the balance when you create an account," Scarlett said angrily as she threw a bundle of cash from the table.
Blake caught it quickly while trying his best not to show the necklace. All this while, his heart was in his throat. Although he has done many risky things in prison, he never offended anybody that could snuff his life like a candle.
"I'm leaving," Blake said, turning to leave.
"My wine!" Scarlett yelled angrily with her chest heaving up and down.
"Oh heavens! She is angry," Blake muttered before turning to her while flashing his most heart-warming and innocent smile. "A bottle of wine wouldn't hurt you."
"You think that wine is cheap? It cost ten thousand cosmic dollars," Scarlett growled, making him jump back in fright.
"You can deduct it from my payment from the viscid core." Blake had no choice but to bleed from his sale to pay for a wine he wasn't interested in.
"Humph! Fine," Scarlett said, before pushing him out.
After Blake left her room, got to his room, and entered his room, he breathed a sigh of relief.
'What a hectic night,' He thought.
The house he was staying in was just a wide room with four-bed spaces, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a big wardrobe. His three roommates were already sleeping like dead logs of wood.
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[RANDOM MISSION COMPLETE!]
Receiving Reward: Crystal cores formation…
N/B: the Primary Host should neither be uninterrupted nor move during the crystal core's formation, or risk restarting the process.
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Just as Blake lay down, a row of text interrupted his rest.
He planned to stay still and receive the reward, however, two tiny whirlpools of strange current made him rush into the bathroom.
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Crystal core formation interrupted!
Achieve a stable mind to restart the process.
N/B: When Primary Host control reaches 11%, he can control the reward process.
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***
The whirlpool disappeared. However, the moment he stayed in the bathroom for a minute, it restarted. It started as a finger size whirlpool until it enlarged to the size of three fingers. Blake began to fear that it would become a house-sized maelstrom. However, his fear was uncalled-for because the whirlpool reached the size of a fist and solidified. It transformed into a fist-size crystal core.
"It converted the cosmic energy in the atmosphere into a crystal core!" When he regained his senses after watching the crystal cores for a while, he exclaimed.
"Smart. If not, why would it be called a Universal system? It can transform any element to the host request." Blake heard Hecate's voice but didn't see her.
Blake calmed down and started the absorption process while monitoring the time. This time, he didn't feel the explosive increase in strength like the first time, and he got the accurate timing. He requires only an hour to absorb a crystal core.
The system showed him his stat, which was 3/100.
"Maybe it's because of the system, or because I'm 1019 years old," Blake muttered because he wasn't sure why he absorbed it quickly.
"Crap! I forgot to get the cores from Scarlett," Blake thought in frustration.
He went to bed angrily by midnight, which was normal for him.
When he woke up the next day, he went to do his registration, getting a uniform, which saved him from the shame of wearing the same purple trial test uniform. He also got his verse watch, which had a programmed virtual ID and map. He also collected a hard copy of his student ID.
Not only that, but he got to the class by 11 a.m. Meanwhile, the class started at 8 a.m. This made him look like 'the bad egg' when he walked into the class. The teacher was a young woman.
'Being a celebrity previously was a nice choice for me,' Blake thought because the number of eyes on him didn't faze him a bit.
The only free seat was beside a girl who looked innocent.
'She has a petite body with a developing bres–chest. I forgot, she must be among the youngest in the school,' Blake thought inwardly, making him feel like the grandpa of the school. The admission age for the Basic Academy is 15–18 years. Blake entered through the back door.
Blake walked and sat beside her. He wouldn't have come to school because he hates 'sitting and learning'. But one of the school rules states that he had to attend class at least three times a week or else, he will be expelled. He doesn't have the strength to take care of himself now.
Just as he sat down, the girl close to him shifted like a frightened rabbit. Blake had to recheck himself if he unknowingly carried a weapon.
'My face is not bad at least, so why is she frightened?' Blake thought and decided to initiate a conversation.
"Hi, I'm Blake Shaun," Blake whispered with a smile.
"I'm Ella Brian," She said with a red face.
"My score mate!" Blake blurted out, getting happiness from an unknown source.
The class turned to them. Blake waved at them, like a celebrity waving to his fans. While Ella buried her face in her book with tears in her eyes.
The class just stared at Blake like he was a lunatic, before turning to the projector.
When Blake turned to Ella and saw that she was almost sobbing, he choked on his saliva.
'Is she a crybaby? She is at least fifteen years old, for god's sake!' Blake screamed inwardly.
"Hey, why are you crying? You have to stop, or they will think I bullied you." Blake pleaded with a low voice.
"You are mocking me, like everybody," Ella said with a silent sob.
"Of course not. I also got a zero that was below your zero," Blake whispered.
"Then why did you scream like that?" Ella asked with red eyes.
"It was like our sitting arrangement was planned, so it surprised me," Blake whispered, finally calming Ella. However, Ella couldn't see the sadness in Blake's eyes. The reason he went through all this length to calm her down is because of her name. She has the same name as his mother.
Even though he tried to be nonchalant, there was a soft spot in his heart for his mother. Furthermore, she was soft-hearted like his mom. Just a little talk and she is crying. Both of their images overlapped when he stared at her.
Secondly, the female teacher was looking at him with judgmental eyes. Maybe she's seeing him as a villain. She wasn't focusing on her book but on him. He felt uncomfortable.
Ella focuses on the projector. The teacher was teaching the history before the arrival of cosmic energy on Earth.
Blake just rested his head to sleep because he is history himself.
He felt somebody shaking him, waking him from his nap.
"You sleep too much. It's time for martial art classes," Ella said, which made Blake stand up quickly. The sword skills, whip skills, and archery skills were not detailed when online. A close-up view will be better.
He followed Ella to a large hall, where a male teacher, who stood on a high podium, was demonstrating for them with a sword. After an hour of teaching, the class ended.
"It's time for spars. Challenging is allowed. Furthermore, the spar is not compulsory," the man said slowly but loud enough for everybody to hear.
Blake stood up almost immediately. He didn't have a skill, so sparring was useless. He needs to get good sword skills from the Skill Library. The students have two free skills which they got from the school after they got admitted. He came late, so he missed it.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard a fierce male voice, "Blake Shaun, I challenge you to a duel. You took potions to win the race. Prove me wrong by fighting me."
Blake turned to the person yelling. After staring at him for three seconds, he shook his head and walked away. A whisper broke out in the room; Maybe they thought the boy was right, but the person they were referring to did not care.
He used the school verse watch to locate the skill library.
However, when he got there, he met the teacher who was giving him judgmental gazes in class. She was sitting in a chair after the door with a desk in front of her.
"She's responsible for giving skills," Blake muttered with a bleak expression.
"Good afternoon, I'm here to receive my virtual reality skill book," Blake said with a smile.
She looked at Blake with disgust, which made him touch his nose.
"Where is your pass?" She asked impatiently like she was looking for a way to send him from her face.
"I don't have one. I haven't collected my admission skill," Blake said.
"Without a pass, no entry," she said coldly, which irked Blake.
"However, there is one way," she said with a smile that Blake found evil.
"Defeat the person currently holding the pass. Here is his detail." She showed him the picture of a boy and his location.
He found out that it was the same boy who challenged him.
'Two birds with one stone,' Blake thought.
He decisively returned to the practice ground. He would rather not owe Scarlett any more favor, so he had to learn to sort out his problems.
"Dan Cooper, I challenge you," Blake said coldly when he reached the practice ground.
Unbeknownst to Blake, that was the genesis of his problem that might end his life. He fell for a plot.