Suspicion

In the deafening silence that filled up the apartment room, the monotonous sound of continuous clicking could be heard.

The room was completely dark, with the only source of light coming from the holographic screen that was being projected out from the smart bracelet.

In the middle of the bed, nestled inside the blanket was Lucas who was browsing in his smart bracelet.

After regaining his memories, Lucas tried a lot of different things in his free time. Even though he has memories of Lucas, it still felt like a novel experience for him to try out new things. 

And one such thing that got him hooked was movies and web series. Due to the advancement of technology, the graphics and visual effects were a lot better than in his previous life.

So during the nights, he was basically living like an owl, binge-watching all kinds of shows and series. This was also one of the reasons why his sleep schedule was absolutely messed up.

But it's not like he was wasting all day on those shows. He was also collecting various kinds of information about this Global Academy in order to prepare for future plots, albeit a lot lazily.

It was then he discovered some interesting facts about Global Academy.

The Global Academy was peculiar in more ways than one.

For starters, this academy isn't afraid of throwing its cadets into the unknown by stripping them of their titles and wealth during their stay here.

The academy claims to do that in order to let its cadets become self-sufficient and resilient.

However, more than anyone else, Lucas knew that the academy does that in order to turn them into obedient unquestioning soldiers.

That's why it even implements a reward and punishment system to train them.

If they perform well during their training, they will be rewarded with a promotion in rank and additional benefits.

If they do not perform well, they may face demotion in rank, lose access to academy benefits, and may be required to spend additional time in training.

It's a meritocracy-based system that makes something very clear to everyone— Follow orders, do well at what you're told to do, and get rewarded.

This system is effective at creating well-disciplined soldiers.

As if someone would be able to control me. Lucas thought to himself.

Lucas wasn't the least bit interested in following other's orders. His pride simply wouldn't allow that. And Lucas realized that this way of mindset would make a lot of enemies for him in the future, mainly the Cadet Council.

In fact, he would have already been confronting them if Liz hadn't let go of her feud with Lucas. 

But Lucas had no hesitation in going against them whatsoever, even if his sister was part of the council.

Tring—! Tring—!

Right when Lucas was in the middle of watching a series, his smart bracelet started ringing.

He frowned at the disturbance and looked at the caller's name.

====

[Kent Takeahint

Accept Decline]

====

It was Kent.

It was obvious that he got Lucas's number through the group chat but Lucas wondered why he was calling him and at this time no less.

"What a pain...."

Lucas spoke to himself. Ever since the day at Nero's place when Lucas helped him with spellcasting, Kent has been talking about teaching him how to live life and all that.

It wasn't that Lucas hated Kent's company or anything, but he couldn't help but feel annoyed at his pushiness.

For some reason, Kent was hellbent on teaching Lucas how to enjoy his life. Lucas, however, had no intention of doing what Kent suggested. After all, Lucas was fundamentally different from everyone else.

But Lucas felt a little bad for rejecting Kent all the time, and now that he wasn't doing anything important, he decided to hear out what Kent had to say.

With a touch, he accepted the call.

"Hello."

[What took you so long dude?]

It was the usual carefree tone of Kent sounding from the other side. But Lucas doubted how someone could be so casual all the time.

"I was sleeping."

[Dude, Is that all you ever do? Even in the previous group meeting you were just sleeping.]

Right. It was pretty chaotic at that time. Lucas recalled about the recent group meeting they had.

"Never mind about that. Tell me why you called at this hour."

[Since you are always cooped up in your room, this best friend of yours decided to teach you the wonders of youth.]

"Haaaaaah...." Lucas heaved a huge sigh upon hearing the expected response. He could already see a big headache coming his way in the very near future. But he decided to accept his invitation for once.

"Alright. Where should come."

[Reallyyyy?! Can I truly trust that you won't go back on your word later?]

"Really."

[Then I will send you the location, be there in 10 minutes.]

*****

(Liz's PoV)

"This doesn't make any sense....."

No matter how much Liz racked her brain she couldn't understand the current situation. It wasn't anything serious but something was telling her that she just couldn't ignore this.

It all started from the time Lucas had argued with her.

Although Liz had let him go at that time, it wasn't that her dislike towards him had vanished. She just decided that she should ignore him and not be involved with him anymore.

And from what it looked like, it seems that Lucas lost to Amelia as he was unable to continue the fight due to his shoulder injury. But this is where something strange happened.

There was no record of Lucas ever visiting the infirmary.

That would mean that he wasn't injured in the first place and was merely pretending. But why? 

And just a few moments ago, Leo sensei had come to talk to her about the very same person. 

"Did you notice anything strange about Lucas?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious is all."

"Well, if I had to say something, then it would be that he is a lot different from how rumors portray him to be. In fact, I can't even understand what goes through his brain due to his indifferent face."

"Hmmmm...."

"Is something the matter?"

"Have you ever checked at what level he is?"

"Level? As in his mana stage?"

"Yes."

"Isn't he in the ‹Iron2› stage? I never checked it myself but that is what's in the records."

"Is that so?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well...this may sound strange..but..I couldn't sense at what level he was in."

"Whaat?!"

"I may be mistaken but the next time you come across him try to gauge his level."

And with those words, Leo left her office.

It took a long time after that for Liz to be able to regain her composure. That was just how shocking it was for her. 

Leo was no ordinary man.

He was one of the strongest people in the entire humanity if not the strongest. His title 'The God of War' wasn't just for show.

He can literally ravage the entire battlefield and would still come out completely unscathed. It is said that when he uses his full power he could take on multiple Vampire Kings at once.

Even the Central Government had to be careful when dealing with him lest they bring a disaster to themselves. And such a person said that he couldn't measure a mere cadet's level.

There are only three possible theories Liz could come up with.

One, Leo was just messing with her. This had been the first thought that came to her right after Leo left. But she dismissed it immediately. Why would Leo of all people try to joke with her? There was no reason for him to do so.

Two, Leo made a mistake. Leo Kurogami of all people making a mistake is just as absurd as the first possibility but Liz found it easier to accept this reason compared to the first one.

Third, Lucas is intentionally hiding his rank.

Although excommunicated, Lucas was still once a noble. And it is possible for him to acquire an artifact that would hide his strength. Or maybe, the Morningstars didn't want Lucas to tarnish their name and gave him the artifact.

Whatever may be the reason, this is the most reasonable explanation she could come up with.

In fact, she never really paid attention to the cadets levels since they were all too weak in her eyes and this is the reason she didn't check Lucas's level. But next time, she would confirm it herself.

Wait...There is also that possibility...but...that's impossible for him. Even I haven't achieved it yet.

Tring—! Tring—!

Just as she was in the middle of thinking something, her bracelet's ringing disturbed her concentration. With her brows furrowing in annoyance, she checked the caller's name.

====

[Nero Dekaruf

Accept Decline]

====

"What is it brat?" Liz answered and spoke with an annoyed tone. Her disciple always annoys her at the wrong times.

[Master!! You won't believe what happened at our recent group meeting]

"Nero, I am busy right now. Call me later and then I will listen to you."

Liz was about to cut the call with that, but his next words stopped her.

[..But...okay, fine. It's just about what Lucas did anyway.]