Chapter 13: Athena Academy

"Hey... have you guys heard about the new student coming to the academy today?"

"Yeah... I heard he is someone super famous..."

"Apparently, he is the heir to the Steelheart house?"

"I was wondering that as well, I thought the late hero didn't have any children?"

"He better be talented... otherwise it would be a waste to try living in a prestigious place like this."

The chatter of girls and boys was abundant within the academy.

Many people were wondering who the newcomer was, and were especially curious about how the late hero managed to conceive an heir.

"You have arrived, young master." called the driver.

With less than a slight nod, Ray got out of the vehicle and stepped within the gates of the academy.

This school was huge, had the backing of the Three Great Houses and was funded by the Goldheart family, so it would make sense for them to not be stingy with their money.

They had every accommodation possible, with a large public pool behind the building, one massive dorm block for the student in the corner of the premise, and different fields for many sports could be seen.

The most noticeable building would be the main block which caught your attention immediately. But behind that, you could see a looming clock tower watching the whole school.

They seemed to have one large main building in the middle of the area, which I presumed to be the main block for classes.

The pathway from the gate led straight to the entry of the block, and you could see many different junctions that extended from this main path.

The path was made from clean grey bricks, and surrounding the path was a freshly cut lawn.

I could instantly spot students walking to and fro from the buildings, with a slightly lenient uniform.

"Young master, I will take your belongings, so please head to check in with reception."

For a school, they had a weird system where students would have to check in every day to make sure that no one ran off and tried to escape.

The receptionist handed me a thin black wristwatch, which had a concave lens on the top instead of normal glass, telling me that I could never take it off.

As soon as I put on the watch on my left arm, I could feel a slight tingle near my wrist as a feeble hum emitted from the device.

VWHOOM

________

<< WELCOME TO ATHENA ACADEMY>>

DATE: 08/06

TIME: 10:48

○ THIS DEVICE WILL BE YOUR PERSONAL GUIDE, HELPING YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR JOURNEY HERE.

○ HERE IS A MAP OF THE SCHOOL, PLEASE REACH THE RED DOT AS SHOWN, AND ARRIVE AT YOUR DORM.

<< NEXT >>

________

A short white block of text appeared on a floating panel above my watch, and a map telling me where my dorm room was.

"This watch will automatically sign you into the school services and acts as a key card for any personal items the school may provide you with."

"As long as you are within the school premises, the built-in GPS will log you as present."

I stared at the screen in front of me, inwardly marvelling at the technology and magic imbued on it.

"Oh, also, the watch provides a personal ranking assessment system, which you can use to roughly estimate your physical as well as magic strength."

I willed the watch to show me my strength assessment, and somehow, it reacted to my thoughts.

________

<< COMBAT ASSESSMENT >>

STRENGTH: E-

SPEED: E+

AGILITY: E+

WILLPOWER: SS-

MANA (Current mana residing in Mana core, not mana circuit): E-

OVERALL: E+

<< NEXT >>

________

"Even though it seems you have already got the gist of it, all you have to do to use the interface is to think of doing something, the watch will then use magic to complete the action."

The rankings system goes from 'E' to 'S', with 'E' rank generally being the lowest. Most newcomers are generally around 'E-' to 'E', so I was told that I was placed a bit above average.

"That is roughly all you need to know about this place, the academy always values progress over starting strength, except for a few outliers. The school has decided not to give you special treatment at the request of your guardian, so you will be residing at the bottom-rank dorm."

"Naturally, the higher rank dorm you are, the better treatment you get, with better rooms and better staff etc..." she added.

"I see..."

"If you have any other doubts, just search it up on your guide watch, and please head to your room. Your belongings should have arrived there by now."

I was then guided to my dorm, following the path given by my watch.

The system was surprisingly useful, as it told me a schedule for my day, and I could use it to search for things online, even though it was mostly restricted.

________

<< ATHENA ACADEMY >>

○ YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR DESTINATION.

________

Looking upwards, I was met with a moderately large building, at least 3 stories tall. It was extremely wide, and I could see the sides of a large private pool, and tennis field behind it.

○ PLEASE ENTER, AND GO TO THE < 6TH > FLOOR

Following its instructions, I reached the lift and selected the 6th floor, being taken underground. The lift also showed that the first three floors at the top were for the higher ranked people, and I presumed that the higher rank you achieve, the higher floor you are able to move up to.

'Ohoh~'

DING

As the doors of the lift opened, I could see a vast corridor in front of me, stretching down a long way, before making a sharp bend to the right.

The hallway wasn't too bad, it seemed clean and spacious enough, however, there were not any fancy decorations or ornaments, and it seemed extremely empty.

The map on my system showed me to go past the long corridor and take a right, with my room being the first door on the left.

Entering my room, all I could see was a plain little bedroom, with a desk straight in front of the door, and a single bed behind it. There was a small toilet adjacent to the entry, and there were no windows whatsoever. The walls were recently painted a fresh white, and I could see that the bed seemed clean.

"At least it has better living conditions than the white box..." I sighed.

The bed didn't really matter to me, as I rarely slept anyway.

Picking up my bags that were dropped off in front of the room, and as I was about to close the door behind me, I heard a knock coming from it.

"Hi! I am Marissa Lenwood, the newcomer's president. I will most likely be working closely with everyone this year, so I went out of my way to greet the newcomer!"

Marissa was a cheerful little girl, with dark purple hair, and milky white skin. She had a few freckles on her face but had a cute facial complexion.

"Okay," I said with a stoic face.

In a blur, I shut the door in her face, hoping to limit any social interactions right now.

"Hey! ...You know what, leave it..." cried the girl in a muffled sound, storming away.

'System, show me some information on Marissa Lenwood' I thought, half expecting it not to work.

________

<< MARISSA LENWOOD>>

AGE: 11 and 8 months

ROLE: NEWCOMER REPRESENTATIVE

OVERALL RANK: E

TRAITS: < CHEERFUL > < OUTGOING >

MAGIC TRAIT: WATER

<< NEXT >>

________

The soft blue in my eyes started to brighten.

"So this works too..." I mused to myself.

"Is there a way to hide information?"

○ USER MUST SPECIFY WHAT INFORMATION TO HIDE.

'Hmmm.. okay then, hide everything except my name and age.'

________

<< RAY STEELHEART>>

AGE: 11 and 2 days

ROLE: <HIDDEN>

OVERALL RANK: <HIDDEN>

TRAITS: <HIDDEN>

MAGIC TRAIT: <HIDDEN>

________

"Perfect"

I went to lie down on my bed, and started to unpack, starting to ponder about my classes.

It was then that it hit me.

'Hold on, this system tells me everything about me.'

'Which means that it knows what exactly is my magic attribute!'

Immediately, a blue panel opened up above my wrist.

The glint in my eyes started to shine against my pale face.

For the first time in a long time, a slight smile escaped my lips.

"I see..."