Unwarranted Curiosity, Kills

The next morning, a ringing bell woke Blake from his sleep.

His roommates bathed, had breakfast and went to class. Blake was the last to leave for school. Somebody delivered breakfast to him.

When he walked around the school compound, everybody was just staring at him strangely. Because he had no clothes, he wore the trial uniform. Everybody wore a purple shirt, a pair of black trousers, and a pair of black shoes.

Blake looked around the school compound, noticing the massive field, and lengthy track lane. The interior of the school was filled with martial art training tools like a martial art gym. It shows how they focused on fighting.

'In my era, knowledge is power. In this era, fist speaks louder than words,' Blake thought, enjoying his lone tour around the school.

"It's time for the assembly gathering," Ethan, who appeared out of nowhere, said calmly.

Blake couldn't guess his thoughts, but one thing he was sure of, was that–they weren't friends.

"Okay. I'm new, so I will need your help to locate the assembly hall," Blake said calmly. He met the President before his faithful setup, so Blake wasn't nervous, just cautious because of the new environment.

"Okay," Ethan said calmly before walking away. Blake tagged along.

When they got to a big hall, he saw the students standing in orderly rows. He just joined any line. The reason for his carefree attitude was that he intends to escape after finishing the random mission, so being nonchalant is the best way to spend his time. After all, stealing something precious from somebody so powerful is a death wish.

"Jerry Rothschild got 2 viscid cores–First position."

Ethan started calling the names of the students and the number of cores they had during their trial assessment.

There are four types of beast cores: misty core; gotten from the child of a beast. It is like a gaseous substance encased by a tough membrane. Liquos core; a beast core obtained from a juvenile beast. It is like a lightweight liquid wrapped by a tough membrane. Viscid core; a core obtained from the young adults of a beast. It is like a dense liquid enveloped by a thick membrane. If the liquos core is as light as gasoline, then the viscid core is as thick and heavy as engine oil. The last, which is the highest rank, is the crystal core; it is obtained from the mature adult of a beast. It is like a spherical diamond crystal. That's the ascending order of the cores which Blake read from the internet. What shocked him was that all cores were merely the size of an adult fist. The basketball-sized core still baffles him.

"Ella, Brian got zero cores–300th position."

"Blake, Shaun got zero cores–the last position."

Ethan finished calling the list.

"Why do I feel like the last position sounded worse than the previous person?" Blake muttered while rubbing his cheek.

When he saw Ethan staring at him, Blake gave him a wink.

"Losers revenge." Blake mouthed at him, unknown to him, trial assessments affect the chances of entering a good Transcendent College.

Ethan's face turned nasty, but quickly returned to its formal, sweet expression.

"Okay, go to your class for some theoretical study," Ethan said with a sweet smile.

Blake noticed the school only has three hundred students. He just added a 'one' to the number.

"Let them perform a mini-competition to assess our students. Starting with the track run," Scarlett, who just entered the assembly hall, yelled.

Blake just followed, while inspecting Scarlett for anything important on her body. He saw her necklace which looked like a diamond.

'Gotcha!' Blake thought, before joining his classmates. He met with Jake.

"Bro, what's everybody doing?" Blake asked while nudging Jake.

"Track run," Jake mumbled solemnly.

"Why are you so serio—"

"Shhh!" Jake cut Blake with a hand on his lips.

"The first person in the race gets a viscid core of an awakened beast. Everybody has absorbed three viscid cores, except Jerry and some rich kids, who have absorbed four cores or an unknown amount. We only need twenty cores to become an elemental transcendent. That's the goal of everybody. Being in the first position is a step closer to our goals," Jake explained with a whisper.

Blake noticed why a common track race will be this solemn.

"I thought it was a hundred cores," Blake said while arranging his hair.

Jake just looked at him with wide eyes.

"We only require twenty cores. Stop playing man," Jake said before ignoring him.

"F**k the Universal system!" Blake cursed under his breath.

Everybody was positioned, and a gunshot marked the beginning of the race.

Blake started running with the three hundred students, who all had superhuman speed. He tried to regulate his speed, which was fluctuating regularly. However, an unknown voice kept telling him to test his limits. Run at his max!

'Well, after I steal the necklace, I will leave this city. Going under the spotlight won't affect me a bit,' Blake thought.

Directly, he abruptly increased his speed. He was like a sports car that suddenly obtained a nitro boost, overtaking everybody until he matched up with Jerry. Jerry, who was in the first position, turned back and saw Blake running like a wild horse.

Jerry increased his speed but noticed he had reached his limit. Blake, who was relishing in the freedom of releasing his strength, caught up with Jerry and overtook him.

"How many viscid cores did you give him?" Ethan asked with a straight face. He placed Blake's success on Scarlett's help. His anger was like a veiled inferno threatening to explode. But Scarlett's background is too big for him to anger her. He managed to reach the Elemental transcendent with his hard work at the age of eighteen, making him a genius.

Scarlett just turned to him, before ignoring him and focusing on Blake. When Blake reached the finish line, he noticed how he was in the spotlight.

"Hecate, what did you do?" Blake hissed through his gritted teeth.

"Just a little nudge," Hecate appeared while smiling. Blake turned around while observing everybody's faces.

"Nobody can see me," Hecate confirmed Blake's guess. He refused to participate in the martial art spar, claiming to be exhausted.

After he received the viscid core, he disappeared to his room. He tried to absorb it; however, the system notified him.

***

[Core is not qualified!]

***

Blake already anticipated the feedback. Using the computer in the room to access the internet, he checked the price of a viscid core. It was one hundred thousand cosmic dollars. This made his jaw drop.

He checked the prices of houses to confirm the value of the cosmic dollar. The least expensive house was about twenty thousand dollars.

"Insane!" Blake exclaimed in shock.

He was thinking of a way of selling his. Without any option presently, he started watching martial art videos. He noticed that the punch he learned from an assassin in the prison can be improved. The punch is called the 'Viper punch'. Moreover, martial arts are more developed during this era.

"Poor skills. Slow movement. Insufficient power." Hecate popped out of his body and started performing the work of a professional judge. He tried his best to learn the fist skills.

Blake just ignored her. He found out that ignoring her makes her less annoying.

In the afternoon, he went to the canteen, using his ID to eat for free. He noticed that the school rules are lax; he missed theoretical classes without any punishment. After eating, he went back to gaming. When it was 7:00 p.m., his three abnormal roommates entered his room, reeking with sweat, and tiredness written all over their faces.

"She accepted!" Jake screamed even though tired.

"I read from a book that girls love boys with slick tongues because they always say something humorous or foolish. Most times, they are frivolous," David, the bookworm, said like he is announcing facts from a textbook.

"I will take that as a compliment," Jake said with a slight bow.

"That sounded like an insult," Mathew, the gamer, mumbled.

Jake protested, "It not an—"

"Guys, do any of you know the Principal's house," Blake asked, cutting into their unreasonable bickering.

"Woah! Don't tell me you are falling for the seductive devil?" Jake asked with a silly smile.

"I never heard that," David said while running away.

"It wouldn't end well for you if she hears that. Moreover, it's not her fault you get beaten in a spar. Furthermore, you can never win a competition, just like our new roommate," Mathew said with a shrug.

"You haven't answered my question." Blake's shoulder slumped at their unstoppable bickering.

"She is leaving the school now. Her house is in the school," Jake said with a shrug.

Blake's eyes jolted open, and he ran out.

When he got close to the principal's office, he saw Scarlett locking the door. He began tailing her, using the various buildings in the school as a cover. The night aided his mission.

The first thing he learned in the prison is, scouting and tailing. Since he couldn't fight, he tailed their enemies for information. Gang battles in prison were normal. He learned that the criminals did all that to feel alive. Moreover, battles with top assassins are risky. There are some quiet ones, though.

Following Scarlett, who walked leisurely, she reached a duplex. It was a big duplex, maybe a five-bedroom flat from Blake's guess.

She entered the room and Blake kept his distance to avoid dying foolishly. The system already warned him of her threat level.

After waiting for ten minutes, Blake felt like giving up and coming the next day. The door to Scarlett's room suddenly opened. Scarlett wore a red armor that wrapped tightly around her.

She looked around before jumping over the fence and leaving the school. Blake, whose curiosity made him itchy, decided to follow her. He flew over the fence, but just slower than Scarlett, who jumped the fence like It was a hurdle in a hurdles race.

After she weaved stealthily around various alleys, she stopped in front of an old house. The house was old but large. She walked into it.

Blake, who was tailing her, did not see any guards or cameras.

"It's just a sneak peek. It wouldn't hurt anybody." Blake convinced himself.

He flew over the short and tattered fence. He entered the building using the window. However, the moment he entered, a sharp alarm in the building made him freeze at his spot.

Turning around, Blake tried to flee from the scene but bumped into a man. The man was clad in black clothes and held two daggers.

"Death to the intruders!"