The Mysterious Stranger

Chapter 15

In a distant land, a portal swirled open, and a young man with an athletic build stepped out, his eyes scanning the desolate landscape. The portal closed behind him, and he looked up at the thick, grey haze that filled the air, heavy with the smell of ash.

As he walked through the ruins of a town, he noticed the devastation left by the werewolves. "This place is a mess," he muttered to himself. "I need to find the person with the orb, but all I have is a vague description."

He thought back to the words of an unknown informant, trying to recall any details that might lead him to his search. Suddenly, an information came to mind:

"The kid was wearing a uniform." That meant the person he sought was likely attending an academy, not a regular school. Since regular schools were closed because of the war going on.

The stranger approached a passerby and asked, "Excuse me, sir. Is there an academy nearby?"

The man replied, "Yes, there's Aurora Academy. It's a training ground for youngsters to fight against werewolves."

The stranger's eyes narrowed. "Can you tell me how to get there?"

The passerby provided detailed directions informing the stranger that the journey would take at least two days. As the stranger turned to leave, the man stopped him. "Who are you, and why do you want to find the academy?"

The stranger adjusted his hat, his expression unreadable. "I'm no one of relevance. I just needed directions. Thank you for your help."

With that, he set off towards Aurora Academy, his thoughts fixed on his target. "Whoever you are, kid with the orb, I'm coming for you."

****************************

Meanwhile in the academy, Jake just woke early as usual and decided to do his morning exercise. He went to the gym as usual and started his exercise. After an hour of exercising, Jake was done with his exercise for the day and he was currently resting so he decided to pull up his status screen.

<Status >

<User: Jake Lucas>

<Level: 4>

<Combat level: Novice>

<Skill level: Untrained>

<XP 10 200 level:>

<HP: 20>

<Strength: 22>

<Agility:17 >

<Endurance: 26>

<Free 1 stat point:>

Jake had already level-up the previous day, therefore bringing him to level 4. Each time he level-up, the number of XP he will need to garner will increase. And he still had the free stat point he was given from wining his duel with Blade because he hadn't decided what to put it into.

After checking his status, he decided to check his skill tab.

<Skill Tab>

<Melee 1 10 combat: Level (Deals damage with basic weapons therefore removing 10% HP from enemy)< p>

<Stealth: Level 1; Increases evasion chances by 10%>

<Inspect Skill: Level 1; Brings up information of an enemy>

<Frenzy 2 5 Strike: a skill that deals rapid consecutive attacks for seconds, with cool down timer of minutes.>

These are the skills Jake currently had, while the rest were locked or greyed out.

Jake sighed and stood up. "This is really taking too much time. How on earth am i supposed to get stronger quickly?"

"Just be patient. You will grow stronger soon. It's just a matter of time." Zee said.

Jake decided to go to his dorm to practice but before he left, he decided to test a theory. He went to the drum like machine and readied himself. Then he punched the drum like thing with all his might and it rang out loudly and it shuffled rapidly before stopping on a particular number.

<22 >

"Just as I thought, that means the system and the drum record the same number." Before he left, he decided to try something else. Jake readied himself and tried 'The Triple Threat' skill again for thirty minutes but he couldn't get it right. He just left the gym for his dorm.

After they all took their bath, they decided to go grab breakfast together again after all it had been long they did it together.

While they were going, some male second years decided to stop them by obstructing their way.

"Is there any problem?" Peter asked rather irritated.

"No. There isn't. We just wanted to Speak with the student named Vynn." One of the second year replied.

"What do you want with him?" Jack asked while furrowing his eyebrows.

"You don't need to know. Vynn are you coming or not?" Another second year asked.

"Guys. It's okay, no need to worry." Vynn said about to walk off but Jake quickly grabbed his hand.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" Jake asked still holding onto Vynn's hand. "You know you can tell us, like you said, we are family now."

"Guy's I'm fine. Don't worry. You can go get breakfast, I will join you for the homeroom class." Vynn said wriggling her hand from Jake's and heading off with the second years.

"I can't help but be worried for him." Sophia said. "You know what, you guys can go ahead. I will join you later." Sophia said heading off towards their dorm room before anybody could stop her.

"What is up with all the some of our roommates dorm today?" Peter asked looking at the rest expecting an answer.

To which they just shrugged and headed to the dining hall for their breakfast. Meanwhile Vynn and the second years were seen pulling up in an alley way in the middle of the first year and second year building.

"Have you done what we asked you to do?" One of the male asked.

"No I haven't and I don't want to either." Vynn answered.

"What! What did you say?" The male asked now moving towards Vynn while grabbing his neck. "Can you repeat what you just said again?"

"I said I'm not going to do what you asked me to do anymore." Vynn replied while trying to catch his breath. "I cannot and will never betray my friends ever." Vynn said staring right into the male's eyes.

"Fine. I will just have to teach you a lesson until you succumb." The male said letting Vynn's neck go and then quickly kneeing him in the stomach so hard that it knocked out the wind from Vynn's mouth.

Vynn started coughing rapidly trying to catch his breath. Then the second year grabbed Vynn's hair and pulled him up and then he punched him thrice in the face thereby breaking his nose.

After a few minutes, they let him go with a warning. "Don't you dare betray us and do as we say." Then they all leave Vynn who was coughing on the floor.

After a few minutes, Vynn managed to get to the clinic to get his self treated. Meanwhile Sophia went back to her room and pulled out a secret bag and then she unlocked it and pulled out a few equipment.

One of them looking like a burner phone, then she dialed a few digits on it and after, it rang a few times, then she heard a voice on the other side say.

"Yes, Sophia. Do you have a report to make, an information you want to share or do you want to speak with your family?" The voice asked.

"Not really. I just wanted to inquire about something." Sophia said.

"And what is that?" The voice asked again.

"Do you know any big family that goes by the name of Dem?" Sophia asked.

"Hold on, give me a few minutes." The voice replied. And then Sophia heard a few mumblings on the call, a few flips and clicks that she could only guess where books and a keyboard being operated by the person on the other side of the call.

After a few minutes, the voice finally found something of relevance.

"Sophia are you there?" The voice asked.

"Yes, I am. Any information?" Sophia asked.

"As a matter of fact, there is." The voice replied. "The Dem family, are a family of influence and own one of the big factions of the world. Oh, there's one more thing, they have a very deep dark secret that have to do with the current world but am unable to access the files so I'm sorry."

"I knew that name sounded familiar, our families are rivals in a kind of good way." Sophia muttered. "But why did Jack not mention he was part of the big three?"