Chapter 2 - Assessment

It has been a couple of months since James's transmigration into this body. Shortly after being transmigrated, he would be "exorcised" to his family's suspicions that he was being possessed by a devil due to his new and strange personality. Of course, this exorcism wouldn't do anything and James would remain the same, but he had to pretend to be their noble son again. Ah, did I forget that part? James would be transmigrated into the body of a somewhat respectable noble family, this noble son being, Winfred Caliban. And soon enough, James would become accustomed to this life and pretending to be Winfred.

(Treat Winfred as a last name as James will still be used to refer to him. I promise you, this is not for a convenience reason or preference choice)

James jolted awake as the train made its stop. He would have finally reached his destination, Arcana. Academy Arcana was a prestigious academy where only the ones with innovation and talent could make it through here. However, truth be told, James was actually pretty pathetic. This body of his, was extraordinarily weak, making him wonder if he had done something bad to get cursed with an infant's physique. But then, he remembered, yep. There was many. The only reason he was even able to get into this academy was thanks to his family and their connections. As he was lost in thought, getting a headache over his misfortune, he would suddenly hear the sounds of robotic whirring and metal. He flinched in surprise and fright as a semi-transparent blue square appeared in front of him.

[You have been grant–^&^#(!$@$}

[Implementing system…]

[....]

[..]

[Measuring value of suffering…]

[Congratulations! Welcome to the Lucky system!]

[You really are such an unfortunate person, aren't you?]

James clicked his tongue, feeling as if this system was mocking him.

"A system…why can't I just live a peaceful life?" He sighed.

[No worries for you friend! I'm here to assist you!]

"Well, thank you I guess…"

[Granting skills….]

[....>]

[...>]

[Name: Lucky Draw]

[Level: 1]

[Status: Draw a temporary skill from either list. However, if you manage to level up the temporary skill to level 5 before it disappears, then you keep it permanently with lesser effects. As this skill levels up from use, then more powerful abilities will appear.]

[Cooldown: One Day.]

[grab.item.list(unfortune);]

[....>]

[...>]

[Name: What are the chances?]

[Level: Transcendental]

[Status: Cause a target of this skill to suddenly make a mistake. Mistakes vary and are always not instantaneous.]

[Restriction: Works on a target once a month.]

"Is this supposed to make me feel better about my horrible luck?"

[In someway, yes.]

James couldn't retort a comeback to that.

[Try checking your stats by thinking of it!]

James decided to ignore its insult and did as told, trying to view his stats.

[Past Name: James ???]

[Present Name: Winfred Caliban]

[Δ |VOS: 10| Δ]

⟪ Stats ⟫

Strength: F

Agility: F

Endurance: F

Luck: Debatable

Power: F

Mana: F

⟪ Skills ⟫

Lucky Draw, WATC

[Stats do not stop at A by the way. Not gonna tell you where it does stop at though haha]

"....Besides that, why the hell is luck debatable?"

[You know the answer to that.]

James slightly chuckled in ridicule, before his attention turned towards a strange 3-letter word, VOS.

"What does…VOS mean?"

[I can't tell you that lol. :P]

James sighed, shaking his head in frustration. He decided to leave it alone and just make it to his first day of college, or basically the equivalent of it. After a while, James would soon make it to the academy. He was currently waiting in a holding room, where he would promptly be transported for evaluation. The evaluation process was to figure out the student's current level of abilities, and then be assigned to classes by that evaluation.

'This is a great opportunity to try out my first skill.'

[Lucky Draw]

A golden sphere would suddenly appear in his hands, outlined by a glowing orange tint. He looked around in slight concern, but other people didn't seem able to see it. He took a closer look, noticing an unidentifiable gray item inside the golden sphere. He swiftly popped it open, a four-leafed clover floating out of it.

[You acquired a new skill!]

[....>]

[Name: Four-Leafed Lucky Clover]

[Level: 4]

[Status: All stats excluding luck go up four letter grades while the skill is active. As this skill levels up more from use, it gains more leaves, therefore going up by more letter grades.]

[Duration: 1 Minute.]

[Cooldown: 2 Days.]

[Time limit: 5 Days.]

'This skill's pretty great actually. And the time limit is plenty enough for me to level it up.'

Suddenly, he would hear his name being called and quickly ran up front. He was then guided into an empty training room of sorts. Across the room from him, was an unknown woman with darkish green hair. She wasn't wearing a uniform similar to anyone else, so James assumed that she must be an instructor or of higher status. He really wished that he had one of those inspection skills so he could see what her stats were in comparison.

"Greetings student. Are you ready for the assessment?"

The strange woman said bluntly, not beating around the bush.

James had no choice but to nod in response. And soon, the assessment began. The strange woman started it by suddenly shooting towards James at a speed he could barely react to.

[Four-Leafed Lucky Clover]

⟪ Stats ⟫

Strength: B

Agility: B

Endurance: B

Luck: Debatable

Power: B

Mana: B

[Duration 1:00]

James was just barely able to dodge out of the way, a punch nearly striking him in the face.

'Holy shit! Is she trying to kill me!?'

He quickly turned around, just in time to block another brutal jab from the strange woman. His arms trembled underneath the pressure of her fist, causing him to slide against the ground. Since his stats were all B, he could assume that the strange woman's stats were at least A. Despite only being one or two letter grades above him, the difference between both was clearly noticeable. There was nothing much he could do except stay on the defensive against this woman's terrifying speed and strength.

James jumped back as the woman rushed towards him again, continuing her assault. James grit his teeth and finally threw a punch of his own. However, she simply swatted it away and responded with another powerful jab as her own. It didn't seem like James would be able to block it this time. But just then,

[What are the chances?]

The strange woman would somehow end up tripping on the back of her foot, causing her to tilt downwards and just barely miss James.

'What the hell? I didn't even activate the skill!'

James didn't let this opportunity go to waste though, quickly releasing a punch with all the strength he could muster. However, the woman swiftly stamped her feet onto the ground to stabilize herself and caught his punch, glaring up at him.

'Uh oh.'

James didn't have time to react as he was swiftly spun into the air. But by some miracle, he was able to land on his feet. The momentum from the spin still remained a bit and caused him to trip forward slightly, accidentally landing a kick that pushed the woman back somewhat. Though, she was able to block it.

'Huh. I guess I am lucky!'

[Duration: 0:30]

"Not bad. Maybe I've underestimated you." The woman stood up, dusting herself off.

"Ah. I forgot to introduce myself."

She got into a more proper stance, her feet clamping against the ground.

"I'm your school counselor, Evelyn."

James gulped as he could see an ominous dark aura outline Evelyn's form, feeling the power radiating off of her.

"Well…nice to meet you. I'm Jam-I mean, I'm Winfred." He almost let his real name slip.

In an instant, Evelyn appeared behind him, tapping him on the shoulder. James slightly jumped and swiftly turned around, throwing a wild haymaker in an attempt to counter. However, Evelyn caught it with ease and pulled him closer, reeling her arm back for a devastating blow.

[Duration: 0:00]

"I FORFEIT!!" James hurriedly shrieked.

Evelyn stopped in her tracks, taking a step back and crossing her arms. She sighed, seemingly disappointed that the battle ended shortly.

"You have done well. I'll be expecting to see you again."

James took a deep breath, his body trembling and his heart beating rapidly.

"You can return now." She added.

"Ah, okay."

And just like that, the assessment was over.

'I hope I can get an average class so I don't have to worry about too much…'

He did infact, not get an average class.