Chapter 18: A New Start [1]

Before I could start planning my future actions, I first would have to understand the past.

First, why did my Dragon's Will activate just now but not before? Gaining an understanding of this powerful item is crucial. Even if you have the most stacked arsenal of items, they're all useless if you don't understand how to use them.

Assuming there was no external force like a god or something involved, there are only 2 possibilities as to why it didn't activate. The first is lack of mana, but I confirmed that I had a full tank of mana, so it can't be that.

The second and only other possibility was that it was already activated. You can't activate something that's already activated.

If the second possibility is true, it would mean that the dragon's eye can see into the future. Slowing down time and looking into the future is somewhat related, so it's not that unlikely. However, upon looking at my stats menu, I found nothing had changed.

===Menu===

User : Ren Montclair

[Class: Novice Assassin: (Level 1: 98%) ]

-> Stealth : E-

-> Intermediate Dagger Mastery : 3%

-> Arts: (N/A)

[Stats]

-> Rating : E-

-> Strength : G+

-> Agility : E+

-> Stamina : E

-> Magic Power : E+

-> Luck: G-S {Conditional}

-> Intelligence : G+

-> Charm : G+

[Traits]

-> Passive: Dragon's Will [1 / ?]

---> Dragon Eyes : Your eyesight is enhanced.

[Skills]

-> N/A

=======

That would have to mean that I could have been peering into the future ever since I first saw my stat's menu.

If that's true, then why did that ability only activate now? The only notable thing portrayed through the vision was the death of those two, so was the Dragon's Will trying to warn me about that?

Is Dragon's Will an item with intelligence, then? How was it able to activate without my permission?

Some special items Liam and his party obtained later on can communicate with their masters, so it's not impossible. It would make sense as it did activate during the most important times for me: my near-death experience with the Mountain Tyrant and in the mirror room.

But, then, suppose the Dragon's Will was trying to caution me; what exactly would have happened due to Irene and Liam's deaths? Also, how did Dragon's Will know I would try to resolve the situation instead of running away and escaping?

"So many questions and 0 answers. Ironic that even though I know the future, I still have so many things that I don't know."

If someone who knows the entire future world has questions, then who the hell can answer those questions?

Realizing that I could only come up with theories right now, I moved on to the next important task: My power was severely lacking.

Currently, I have 2 possible upgrades. Through my training over the week, a weird feeling started to appear. Whenever I exercised or trained, it felt like my muscles were at maximum capacity, like my progress bar was complete.

My leg muscles weren't tired or painful when I ran, indicating that they were developing. However, my top and average speed remained unchanged when using those muscles.

It was like I had maxed out or reached my final potential.

This was an obvious sign that I was ready to rank up as my body was complete for the E- rank. With the first incident approaching, I didn't dare rank up before it, but now I had the time to.

When breaking through, you fall into a deep slumber, bringing your mind and body into a different realm, which scientists call "Dreamveil." In this realm, you must complete a difficult mission determined by your current rank.

Like for an E rank, the mission will be simple, like hunting and defeating a monster. On the other hand, for Liam's A-rank mission, he was made to be a general in a war, and his mission was to defeat the other side despite his side's military being significantly weaker.

If you fail this mission by dying or losing, your physical body will be turned into a Radic, and you will essentially become a living corpse solely driven by desire.

Although some of these Radics can be harmless, many turn to the dark side to fulfill their sense of craving, becoming djinns. This is also why the High Dominion is so crucial, as without them, these people would run wild, causing chaos.

The main reason Celestial Academy is known for being the best school is its almost perfect mission competition rate.

It is near perfect instead of perfect because some missions can be considered impossible. Even a person like me, who is perfectly ready to rank up, still has a chance of failure.

"If I fail, so be it. At least I died out of my own coalition instead of being killed by someone else."

The second possible upgrade was my finally obtaining a dagger art. With Proficient Assassin only a few training sessions away and Intermediate Dagger Mastery reached, I was more than ready to start learning an art.

After the battle, I realized that becoming more powerful at the cost of somewhat changing the plot structure was more than worth it. Of course, that doesn't mean I would take every overpowered item and leave Liam in the dust.

If I needed an item, I would take it, regardless of its effect on the plot.

Currently, the dagger art I wanted was held by an evil organization known as the "Gemstone Order."

The "Whispering Tempest" is a three-star dagger art that uses the wind to fuel its power. Although it seems like I'm settling for this art, the "Whispering Tempest" is actually an upgradable art with the potential to reach the five-star range. Also, the other powerful dagger arts are currently unobtainable.

Taking down or infiltrating the Gemstone Order, an end-game villain group for Liam, would be impossible for me, so the only way for me to obtain it would be to join the organization as a member. Then, by completing missions, I could use contribution points to buy the art.

I couldn't just bust into their headquarters and demand a position, so the only other options were to be invited or steal a member's identity. The latter was a more viable option, as getting invited would take far too long as I would have to first delve into the dark side of the world, then gain the trust of some individuals, and then display enough power to be noticed by an executive.

With the help of dagger art, completing the E-rank mission would be far more manageable. However, I doubted my ability to kill a low-rank member and complete missions assigned by the order right now. 

Thus, I chose to attempt my breakthrough over the weekend. Students were free to attempt their breakthroughs anywhere. A strong mana surge would be released if you failed a mission and became a Radic, notifying heroes nearby.

Even if security measures were put in place to prevent Radics, why would I care about following them? I would already be dead, so there would be no consequences for me!

Lifting myself off the bench, I walked back to the dorm building. After going through all my main goals, there was still one small thing bothering me.

Why was Liam weaker?

His sneak attack wasn't powerful or fast enough to one-shot the djinn. That was what caused this whole situation in the first place.

Recounting my actions throughout the past week, I had not talked to or even been within 10 feet of Liam. I had only seen him when I entered class and headed to my seat.

So, then, how did my appearance change anything?

In the future, figuring this out would be vital as it would allow me to make the necessary preparations before fights, and who knows if Dragon's Will would warn me again instead of just watching it happen.

Arriving at the dorm building, I looked at my reflection on the glass doors—an average student with pale-white skin, dark black hair, and red eyes. 

It wasn't my body, but Rens.

Then, it hit me. It was as if I had received a revelation.

"... I didn't do anything."

Who is Ren?

A vengeful bastard and a dumbass. Liam had caused Ren to lose everything: his family name, wealth, and honor.

Even if it weren't Liam's fault, Ren would definitely see it as that.

Would a revengeful, dense idiot like Ren really let the person who "took" everything walk away without even trying anything?

Sitting still and doing nothing was actually the most suspicious thing Ren could do! 

Liam must have been worrying his ass off trying to figure out what Ren was planning, and seeing me act like nothing happened must have only increased his fear.

The fear of the unknown is the greatest!

I almost laughed, imagining Liam peering over every corner and constantly analyzing his surroundings to see if there was any danger.

Realizing this, I concluded that whether I liked it or not, I would have to plan some revenge scheme to get back at Liam. 

The more focused Liam is, the more powerful he is, and the less work I must do!

Although the Dragon's Will had already warned me that Liam and Irene's death would lead to unforeseen consequences through the vision in the mirror room, I had no plans to act as his babysitter.

Sure, if I had a vision, I would do my best to amend the future, but I wasn't going to go out of my way.

Opening my door room door, I collapsed on my bed. Tomorrow would be my breakthrough day, so I needed as much rest as possible.

E to D rank missions typically take around 2 hours, but I would have to be constantly on the move during that time.

-*-

Back at the amusement park, Liam and Irene sat next to each other on the bench, awaiting further instructions from the heroes.

A hero, fitted in an elegant black suit, approached the pair and asked.

"To confirm, a djinn appeared in the room, and while Irene distracted the djinn with the conversation, Liam disposed of the djinn by attacking its neck."

In unison, the two students responded.

"Yes."

"Well, this feat is simply unimaginable for students of your age. *sigh* I knew Celestial Academy was a good school, but two first-years already defeating a djinn is just..."

After writing a few more things on the clipboard, the hero dismissed the students and walked away.

Liam was the first to get up from the bench. His typical easy-going and confident demeanor was nowhere to be seen, as he seemed to have a lot weighing his mind.

On the other hand, Irene seemed to be acting like this was any other typical day as she immediately got on her phone. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell that Irene was bragging about the fight to Kevin as a broad smile appeared on her face.

For the past week, Liam has interacted with Irene more often as Kevin constantly hangs around him due to Lily, so he was somewhat used to her attitude by now.

More importantly, there was something else on Liam's mind.

'Ren was in that room. Was that entire fight and the djinn's appearance planned by him as an act of revenge? No, he seemed shocked and scared, didn't he? He had a cloth over his eyes at the end; was he crying out of fear?'

Ever since the first incident, Liam had constantly been on edge, feeling that at any time, Ren would jump out and try to kill him.

'Why can't this guy do something already? Why is he just acting like nothing happened???'

Clearing his mind, Liam started walking towards the dorm building. Then, surprising Liam, a voice called out from behind him.

"Hey, you might not be as powerful as me, but at least you're not a fraud."

Turning to face Irene, Liam inwardly thought.

'The hell does she mean not as powerful? Aren't I ranked higher than her???'

However, Liam didn't dare voice these thoughts out loud, so he replied with a nod and turned back away.