Chapter 7

Luckily for Lewis, school wasn't too unbearable for the final exams. People left him alone, though the glances at his appearance were apparent and obvious. Bradley and his scraggly gang especially avoided him to the best of their abilities. Lewis's teachers also had their questions for him, but his appearance seemed to make them shirk away and do other things. The exams weren't difficult, as Lewis was able to use his heightened senses to cheat off of the others around him. His main target was the ones that had a higher academic capability compared to the others.

The final part of the day came quickly, all the eighth grade students were brought to the gym and placed in the bleachers by Rank. Lewis was alone, but it didn't bother him at all. After a short while, after the last of the students filed in, a bunch of adults filed in and sat in chairs behind a podium and a cart with a large crystal ball and a computer was brought in as well. An old man stood at the podium.

"My dearest students, today is your last day of school work before the summer. Next week you will leave these doors behind for the last time, and you will hopefully move on to one of these distinguished dean's academies for you young blessed. As your principal, these past three years have been the most joyous time as I watched each of you grow to be such fine young men and women. As much as I would love to continue my speech, I must push this forward, as I know for no doubt that you all want to get out and enjoy your day work free. So, we shall start with the lowest rank, and move up according to tradition. Lewis Padova, please come forward and activate your blessing upon this crystal." The principal called Lewis down. A few students laughed upon instinct as Lewis was currently known as the only F-Rank. But those that knew better, leaned forward with pale faces and intrigue.

Lewis stood up and started walking towards the cart with the crystal. Lewis ignored the jeering and laughter, even the looks of contempt from the adults was ignored… somewhat.

"Hey, principal. Can I use my skills with my blessing?" Lewis asked the old man.

"I don't see why not." The principal shrugged. Lewis nodded and summoned the tendrils of shadow from his own shadow, and touched the crystal with the glowing hieroglyphs. It wasn't done for extra power, it was simply for the aesthetic, a show to silence the gym. It was a successful ploy as the entire gym went silent.

"Strength is forty-one, Dexterity is forty-six, Intelligence is… uhm… four hundred and eighty! Charisma is thirty-nine, Magic is four hundred and seventy, constitution is one hundred and thirty-two. Rating with blessing active is two-hundred and one point three. Mid C-Rank capability from a mere middle schooler?" Someone read off the screen of the computer and then exclaimed.

"What's his base?" The principal asked.

"Forty-four point one, mid D-Rank." The same guy read the screen. The gym remained quiet, an F-Rank had jumped straight to Mid D-Rank in less than a month. They were shocked to say the least. The deans in the chairs began discussing amongst themselves about Lewis. All except one middle aged man and the young woman behind the principle.

"So what if he jumped up so fast. He may have great growth, but what about experience? Boy, I'm sure you don't mind giving a demonstration spar? I brought a student myself for if such an occasion arose." The man stood up and directed his opinion at Lewis.

"I'll never turn down a good spar." Lewis smiled in return.

"Good! I like your confidence. Lily, if you would please." The man turned and addressed someone from beyond the gym doors. They opened and a girl in a battle suit with some emblem on it, walked in. She had green hair and eyes that once again, made Lewis question this world's sense of fashion, as he'd seen many people with such unnaturally colored hair.

"I am ready Dean." The girl bowed slightly to the man. The area was cleared of everything and a small area around the two was cast over with some sort of barrier technology.

"Ooh, that's neat." Lewis flicked the barrier, it was solid.

"Are you some sort of country bumpkin?" Lily, the girl asked. Lewis glanced at her with a nasty side eye.

[Lily Monroe

Age: 15

Rating: 55.8

STR: 46 CHA: 67

DEX: 65 MAG: 54

INT: 62 CON: 41]

"A speed build. You must have a lot of confidence in speed, whereas you don't trust hand to hand combat. You'll aim for a quick strike rather than a power struggle or an endurance battle." Lewis analyzed the girl based on her stats. Her eyes widened and the man started laughing.

"You have incredible eyes, kid! Such swift judgment, but so what? You think swift judgment and good eyes can prepare you? Without experience, you're as good as a bag of rocks in a raid. Useless, takes up space, and weighs everything down." The man criticized Lewis.

"Perhaps, but I'll have you know… my judgment is all I need." Lewis smiled and faced the girl. Without missing a moment, Lily launched at Lewis and thrust her hand forward towards Lewis's neck to immobilize him and end the spar quickly, just as Lewis predicted. Lewis dodged the strike and put distance between them.

"Hmm, I think for this once, I might be able to use it." Lewis stated to no one as he looked at his first blessing ever used.

[DEX: 46->736]

The man's eyes narrowed immediately after the blessing activated. He felt the sudden shift, and he instinctively knew that the battle had shifted in Lewis's favor. But, before he could warn Lily, Lewis vanished, a gust of wind followed after the movement and Lily was on the ground at Lewis's feet. Lewis looked at the man with an amused look.

"Victory is not won by strength, but rather wit… or whatever the saying is." Lewis deactivated the blessing and stepped over the unconscious girl and went to exit.

"Hold on! I admit, I was wrong, I apologize for testing you like that. I haven't introduced myself. I am Gregory, the dean of Midgard Academy, the highest in prestige for Blessed high schools. I would officially like to extend my hand and accept you into my school." Gregory stood and held his hand out.

"No. I already know which Academy I'm joining. You neither made a good impression nor proper judgment. Why would I join a school with such an incompetent Dean? I'll make it clear enough for all of you to understand. I will apply for Aaru Academy during their annual Open Enrollment Exams." Lewis announced loudly, humiliating Gregory, who dared test him. Gregory's face was as red as a tomato with rage and humiliation. Aaru Academy was his Midgard Academy's biggest rival and one of the most prestigious schools in the western hemisphere. The dean for Aaru was sitting in the first chair, just behind the podium, with an amused grin on her face.

"What makes you think I want you in my school?" The woman asked. Lewis looked over at her with a determined look on his face.

"I don't care if you want me or not. I just want to get into a school of my choice, without any special advantages. I don't like handouts, I earn things my own way, by my own strength. So, I will get into your school, with or without your permission… ma'am." Lewis responded promptly and with firm determination.

"Hmm, very well. I'll make sure a spot in the enrollment has your name. Don't disappoint me, Lewis Padova. I sincerely dislike being disappointed." Aaru's Dean gave Lewis a look that had a dangerous gleam to it. She was fairly good looking, roughly late thirties to early forties. Her long platinum blonde hair and sea green eyes perfectly contrasted with each other, giving her a wild yet intelligent appeal. She wore an emerald green shirt that accentuated her upper figure, black pants that were loose at the bottom, but tightened as it went up to the waist, her figure was very obvious and quite appealing. Lewis had a hard time concentrating beyond admiring her figure, but his poker face was undeniably unbroken.

"Then I'll be leaving now. See you in two months' time." Lewis swiftly turned away and began to leave the gym. A girl stood next to the doors Lewis was walking towards. Her white hair and ice blue eyes reminded Lewis of someone, but he couldn't remember who. The girl looked nervous and her knees quivered slightly.

"What?" Lewis asked her.

"Uhm, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way you were treated by my cousin. And I'm sorry for standing by all these years." The girl apologized. Lewis stared at her blankly.

"Who?" Lewis asked in confusion.

"Bradley." She replied.

"Oh, the one with the stupid name. Do I need to beat him up again?" Lewis sighed as if he was being told to do a tedious chore.

"Oh good heavens, no! I'd rather not watch that again!" The girl exclaimed. This caused more confusion for Lewis.

"Why were you watching? Are you some sort of weird pervert who gets off on seeing people get beat?" Lewis asked with a severely disgusted look on his face as he took a step back. The rest of the gym was busy going through with the rest of their evaluations.

"No! I'm the one that gave you the information you were asking for that day!" White replied with the reddest face Lewis had seen yet. Realization dawned on Lewis, and he was further surprised.

"White… you're a cross dresser?" Lewis whispered with minor concern for the mental well being of the person in front of him.

"I forget my uniform one time… are you dense?" White sighed in defeat.

"Give me a moment, I'll confirm something." Lewis replied as he looked intensely at White.

[Illiana Whiteflower

Age: 14

Rating: 12.8

STR: 11 CHA: 12

DEX: 13 MAG: 11

INT: 20 CON: 10]

"A-are you done?" Illiana asked while blushing in embarrassment from the intense gaze coming from Lewis.

"Oh, you are a girl… but aren't you actually a crossdresser anyway? You were dressed as a boy last time?" Lewis continued to remain on the crossdressing subject. A swift slap crossed Lewis's face, though it didn't even tingle, it still caught him by surprise. Illiana walked away with tears in her eyes, a red face, and severe pain in her hand after slapping what felt like hot steel. She held her hand as she walked into the bleachers, the tears were from the pain and fear of retaliation after slapping the terrifying boy. Lewis stared after her in absolute amusement and confusion before exiting the gym.

***

The next few weeks were filled with constant training with multiple skills and blessings to gain better foundations and control. The progress was steady, but slow, and Lewis was hardly of any help in the dungeons. A month passed and Lewis learned that Joshua was a demon from hell when it came to training. All of Lewis's base stats rose by at least five and at most seven. Even the blessings rose a tier on a few from the continuous usage. He had also raised his stats with the sixteen unused SP.

[Status

Name: Lewis Padova Age: 14

Titles: (3) Level: 32

Soul Rank: EX Health: 100% Mana: 100%

Strength: 53(62) Charisma: 52

Dexterity: 56(72) Magic: 54

Intelligence: 59(72) Constitution: 55

Free SP: 0

Skills: Soul Companions:

Infinite Compatibility(Passive): Rank EX Animal Soul Blessing: 3/?

Soul Sight(Active): Rank EX

Nature's Envoy(Passive): Rank EX Insect Soul Blessing: 3/?

Hellfire (Active): Rank B

Shadow Manipulation (Active): Rank A Plant Soul Blessing: 3/?

Touch of Anubis(Active): Rank S

Mythological Soul Blessing: 4/?

Companion Points (CP): 9,005]

Lewis laid in the giant bed he was given on the third floor of Ariel's house. The constant blessing had changed once again, though this time Lewis had chosen and it could be deactivated at any time. He was using the Gray Wolf blessing which was now advanced to the Normal Tier. It had zero effect on the appearance of Lewis, but gave him a fairly decent sense of smell and cognitive abilities. As Lewis was relaxing, staring at his status, a knock resounded on his door.

"Get ready, we're going on a raid today." Ariel told him. Lewis sighed and rolled off the bed, his body beyond sore, and picked up the light armor he had just taken off. It consisted of a light steel breastplate, leg armor for his shins, a shoulder plate, and finally two metal sleeves that slipped onto his forearms and buckled on tight. He used a simple steel short sword, buckled to his waist.

"What a fucking hassle." Lewis groaned as he left the room.

***

The dungeon raid group that Lewis was a part of, turned out to be different this time. Ariel had been called off for an emergency the moment they arrived, and Joshua and his A-Team were in another high class dungeon. Lewis was told to just act like a porter, and not to do too much.

"Hey kid! Welcome to the C-Team! I'm the leader, my name is Dan. Ya ain't got to worry too much now, it's only a D-Class dungeon, so just stay behind us, and all's gonna be alright." A man in heavy armor and a giant shield stated in the heaviest southern drawl Lewis had yet heard.

"Oh, okay." Lewis replied. His only job then, was to carry the supplies needed and pick up any valuable items necessary for profits. Dungeons at C-Class or higher required miners, porters, and monster carriers. This was because the higher the rank, the better the profits. D-Class and lower tended to have useless mob monsters and were typically ignored, save for the need to clear them obligatorily.

"Alright! Round it up and let's get on. Gotta be cleared within the three day limit!" Dan called out. The team began to gather their items and readied themselves before the translucent portal that connected the dungeon to the earth. Lewis Picked up the pack he was to carry and joined the back of the group. Dan motioned for the fifteen members, plus Lewis, to move forward into the dungeon. Lewis sighed mentally, knowing he wasn't going to be able to put his training into practice, and followed the team into the portal. Since Lewis had his Gray Wolf blessing on, his senses were acutely higher than normal, and something about the portal felt incredibly off. As soon as Lewis passed the threshold of the portal, his feeling confirmed itself, and Dan shouted a term Lewis had never heard before;

"It's a damn gate!" This was the last sentence Lewis heard before his vision was filled with swirling colors and his body was thrown into a sense of no equilibrium.