9 Chapter 9

Josh left Earthland around lunchtime since he refused to spend his Jewels on food. Even though he gathered quite a bit in the past week, he only used them to buy Lacrimas whenever Josh ran out of them and continued saving the money for the magic he wished to buy.

*Ding*

The sound of a new message came from his phone the moment he appeared in his room. Josh checked it out and saw it was a notification of a missed call by an unknown number. Before he could even think who might've tried calling him, his phone started ringing.

"Hello?" Josh picked it up and answered gingerly since his number should've been known by exactly three people.

"Arata-san?" Came a calm voice that carried authority with it.

"That's me. Who am I speaking with?" Josh asked suspiciously. This wasn't some kind of prank by Azazel, right?

"I'm Shitori Souna, President of the Student Council of Kuoh Academy." The girl on the other side introduced herself, making him freeze on the spot.

One of the Devils in town was already contacting him? Had Josh already been discovered? But he had barely left his apartment in the past week, only going out to buy groceries once he ran out of food.

"As a new student, I'm obliged to help you with anything that you might need and inform you of what is expected of you." Souna, or Sona, continued on, unaware of how much he panicked by her call.

"I see. That's very nice of you, Shitori-sama." Josh replied with relief. However, he was still alarmed since he had no plans of meeting with the Devils until Josh was confident he could defend himself.

"That's part of my duty as the President of the Student Council." Josh wasn't sure if that was the truth since the Student Council of his previous school didn't have such duties.

"I've gone over your records, and I believe you will fit well in the school with your high grades, Arata-san. There are still a few things I would like to discuss with you, so would it be possible to meet up in the next few days?" Alarm bells started ringing in his head. Not to mention his grades had been average and definitely not high as Sona believed. Something wasn't right.

"Could we not discuss them over the phone, Shitori-sama?" Josh asked, hoping for the best.

"The topics would take too long for a normal phone call, and I prefer to meet new students face to face. We could also use this chance to show you around Kuoh Academy, so you can familiarize yourself with the school, Arata-san." Sona's tone was clear, indicating she wouldn't accept 'no' for an answer.

"I understand, Shitori-sama." Josh said, trying his best not to grit his teeth. "Would it be okay with you to meet in three days since I have some work to take care of?"

"That is of no problem with me, Arata-san." Sona agreed with him. "How does 10 in the morning in front of the school gate sound for you?"

"That sounds fine with me, Shitori-sama." Trying to avoid or delay the meeting with Sona would only make her suspicious. Unless she already knew there was something off about him, then he could use this time to prepare himself.

"Great, then I will be seeing you in three days, Arata-san. Have a good day." Sona pleasantly said with a victorious tone.

"You too." Josh ended the call and urgently started preparing something to eat while checking out his progress.

[Joshua Arata]

[Rank C(24/100)]

[Jewels: 227 600]

[Magical Core Lvl. 2(42%)]

[Wood-Make(Adept)]

In a week, he gathered over 300 000 Jewels since he focused on completing at least 5 Quests a day and fought 5 times in the Colosseum. Upon increasing his Guild Rank to C, all the Quests offered in the Guildhall got upgraded to his level. Now, they awarded him between 5 000 and 10 000 Jewels each.

At first, Josh didn't plan on completing any Quests since he thought he could cheat in the Colosseum by fighting weaker opponents and gaining tons of Jewels from having a high win streak.

Unfortunately, the strength of his adversaries depended on his Magical Core level and not his Guild Rank. So, Josh was forced to fight C-Rank opponents that awarded him 6 000 Jewels each win. The price was doubled for every five wins he got in a row, but he usually ran out of juice before that.

Still, the fights in the Colosseum took less time than completing Quests. Josh could even take small rests between each round and use that time to absorb a Lacrima. He wasn't getting the win streak bonus, but he didn't risk dying like that. Absorbing a Lacrima also helped with his recovery, so he was saving time as well.

'Good thing I didn't use up all of my Jewels.' Josh could've spent his money to purchase as many Lacrimas as he could, but instead, he decided to save them for worst-case scenarios. Like the situation with Torafuzar, for example. If he was poisoned or hurt, he could use his Jewels to purchase healing items.

Josh's first destination after entering Earthland was the Library. There were two magics he wished to get before meeting with the Devil. He only had the money for one of them, but he could at least get some practice with it.

"Welcome, young magician! Have you finally decided to purchase something from me? Or are you here to browse?" The Exceed asked as it jumped behind the counter.

"I want to buy High Speed." Josh said without hesitation. The magic was very simple and only had a single effect that allowed him to move at extreme speeds.

High Speed would make his weak physical attacks actually do something, but most importantly, it would allow him to run away in worse-case scenarios. As long as he got out of sight, Josh could then enter Earthland, and his enemy would be left none the wiser, thinking he had teleported away.

"That would be 150 000 Jewels." The book appeared on the counter.

Josh handed over the money with trembling hands. He had worked so hard for this, and now he was back at square one, having less than 100 000 Jewels. He felt dirt poor.

"I hope you put your purchase to good use!" The Exceed happily told him as Josh opened the book. Knowledge flooded his brain, and he staggered, almost falling on the ground.

The feeling of so much information entering Josh's head at once was just as painful as the first time. Well, it was less unpleasant this time since High Speed was a simpler magic compared to Wood-Make.

From the catalog, Josh found out that there were many magics similar to his own. Like Ice-Make, Iron-Make, Water-Make, and etc. All of them cost 500 000 Jewels, so he got a pretty good one for a start. Though it required a lot of magical power to be used to its full potential.

Josh quickly left the Library once he regained his bearings. He activated High Speed for the first time and rushed towards the plaza, stopping next to a bench with most of his belongings. His Sacred Gear couldn't be used like an Inventory, where he could quickly take out items from, but he could still store objects inside it.

After grabbing a light sword, Josh activated High Speed once more and rushed over to the Colosseum.

'I'm moving at about the speed of a car.' Josh concluded. All things considered, it was pretty good since it was still at the Beginner level. It was nothing special compared to the more powerful individuals of the supernatural world, which he wasn't even able to track with his eyes. But again, it was still only at the Beginner level, so it had room to grow.

"I want to fight." Josh told the Exceed before it could say a word.

"And fight you will!"

Josh was teleported into the arena alongside his opponent. He ignored the Exceed's booming voice as he preferred not to know his foe's name. That way, it was easier for him to think of them as projections and nothing more.

Wasting no time, Josh activated High Speed and blurred towards his opponent. The mage in question was surprised only for a moment before a blue magic circle formed in front of him.

"Ice Magic: Hailstorm!" Dozens upon dozens of balls made of ice flew out of the magic circle in a chaotic pattern. All of them were as large as softballs and looked to be quite dangerous.

Josh found out the limitation of High Speed at his current level and experience. Turning was hard when moving fast. He avoided the brunt of the attack, but he was still chipped by at least a few of the ice balls, leaving nasty bruises and wounds on his body.

Gritting his teeth, Josh bore through his pain. It was nothing compared to what he felt when he sparred with Baraqiel or when he was suffering from Torafuzar's cursed water.

Activating High Speed again, Josh quickly reached his opponent. The mage was caught by surprise and didn't get the chance to fire another spell at him.

Blurring past his opponent, Josh swung his light sword and ended him with one attack. His weapon was already pretty effective, but it was even better when combined with his momentum.

"Damn it." Josh cursed as the fight ended. He wanted to try and go for a win streak, but now he had to leave and heal first.

"Will you stay and fight, or will you leave?"

"Leave." Josh answered without hesitation. There was no way he was going to risk his life now.

After returning to the plaza while using his new magic, Josh grabbed a bottle of healing paste and started applying it to his injuries. This wasn't the first time he got hurt in the Colosseum, so he had a couple of those bottles for such cases. He absorbed a Lacrima while waiting for his injuries to heal before making his way back to Colosseum.

In his next fights, Josh was more careful. He waited for his opponents to make their move first before he reacted to them. With High Speed, dodging attacks was much easier than he was used to.

Josh avoided using Wood-Make for the time being in order to get more experience with his new magic and level it up quicker. Slowly, he got used to moving and attacking so fast.

For the rest of the day, Josh fought in the Colosseum as much as possible. He ended up getting 12 wins, including his first one. He even managed to get a win streak of six, which netted him a good bonus.

The next day, Josh started with 155 600 Jewels, which was 45 000 short of what he needed for the other magic he wished to purchase. So, he returned to the Colosseum the moment he was up and about. By lunchtime, Josh gathered the necessary funds to buy his new magic.

"Back so soon? Although learning a lot of magics seems like a great idea, you should focus on improving the ones you already know."

Josh knew that and was planning on improving his current magics as much as possible before his meeting with Sona. However, he needed to buy one more.

"I want to buy Archive."

This magic allowed him to convert information, including his memories, into magical data. It came with a few benefits, such as increased processing power, minor telepathy, the ability to project durable flat screens in the air, and most importantly, it guarded his mind.

As long as Josh got the basics of Archive down, he could protect himself from any mind shenanigans. There were many ways for someone from the supernatural world to alter the memories of the unsuspecting. He wished to avoid that if possible.

Azazel had told him that the Devils in Kuoh weren't like the ones he knew, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"That would be 200 000 Jewels." The said with a sigh as the book appeared on the counter.

Josh wasted no time and handed the Jewels before opening the book. He then left the Library with a minor headache and went over to his bench. Plopping down, he was now going to focus on improving his newly acquired magic as much as possible.

[Joshua Arata]

[Rank C(24/100)]

[Jewels: 3 600]

[Magical Core Lvl. 2(54%)]

[Wood-Make(Adept)]

[High-Speed(Novice)]

[Archive(Beginner)]