Chapter 88 - The First Group Activity [1]

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Valier POV:

As I was about to leave my room, I noticed a piece of paper telling me to head to a certain location in the school.

It had begun, the First Group Activity.

It was a sort of test yet also a learning experience. In the original novel, it didn't affect everyone's grades too much as no one managed to do anything remotely satisfactory, so they had decided to ignore it since the school believed it to be their fault when everyone failed.

I headed outside into the school's fields, and there, I was met with every single first year student arranged in groups. I was instructed to stand in line where three others stood, and it seemed that these guys were my group.

My group consisted of Angelica and two others.

One of them was a boy while the other was a girl. The boy was quite tall and had dark skin, his eyes were hazel coloured and he had black hair. His build was quite small, with eyes that had dark circles around them and an outfit that was messed up. However, his Mana reserves seemed to be quite large, and I could tell that he was a decently strong Mage.

But that wasn't what I was interested in, it was the look in his eyes. There was something in them that even I could understand and even sympathise with.

The desire for strength… No, that was what I had. What he had was nothing but desperation. He looked like he'd be willing to do anything for strength, but judging by the state of his body, it seemed that he didn't care for physical strength or prowess.

It seemed like he had given up on everything but Magic.

And with a strong determination like that, even I couldn't help but respect him.

"Your name. What is it?"

Catching me by surprise, he spoke to me first. He was looking me up and down which admittedly was a bit odd, but he probably hadn't seen someone our age who was this big.

"Valier, and you?"

"Dante. Nice to meet you."

As I forced a smile to return his sentiments, I noticed that the princess was... in deep thought? When she saw me, she had been with a bit of excitement in her eyes. Well, I supposed she probably knew what this group activity favoured.

Physical Prowess and intellect. They made sure to get an idea of everyone's level of physical prowess in the entrance exam, but they had taken extra care in assessing those who took combat classes. The reason that my teacher wanted to fight me was for that reason in particular.

Based on your level of physical ability, you were given a different weapon. Those who had exceptional physical abilities might be given a wooden sword while those who didn't have any notable physical abilities would be able to freely choose a weapon from a selection of them.

Then, before the other girl could introduce herself, an instructor called up the first group of four.

Group by group, we were called up, registered, and given weapons. When my group was called up, Dante was able to choose a weapon. He decided to choose a rather long, serrated knife. It was a good choice for someone who didn't know how to use weapons at a high level, and who didn't have the strength to use blunt weapons like hammers.

Angelica was given a shield, and the other member of our group was given a halberd.

However, when it came to my turn, I was... handcuffed.

"Handcuffs..?" I asked, genuinely puzzled.

Then, as my group was about to complain, weights were attached to my ankles, and the weights were also shaped like cuffs.

"Hold on! This isn't remotely fair! What next? Are you guys gonna blindfold him?"

The instructor smiled a bit, he was of average height and of average build. He had slightly tanned skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes. He looked completely average, in fact, he felt completely average.

But this man had the power of a primordial being who had authority over the world itself. Or rather, the being who was the world itself. He had one of the most horrifying abilities in existence. His power bordered on divine, actually. Like, it was probably a power capable of slaying even a fully powered up Diety.

He had two main powers. The first was control over the Earth; stones, dirt, minerals, and other things were under his dominion.

But, it was his other power that set him apart from most Rune Bearers.

He had the power to create a world. And, that world had a rule that he imposed upon it.

'That which defies natural laws shall not exist.'

In other words, in his world, phenomena such as Magic, Physiques, Runes, and the like did not work. Everyone basically became normal, and didn't have any powers.

Most of the time that is. There were certain things which could bypass his ability or, at the very least, reduce it's effects.

For example, people who were just different from the rest, who, even without powers could perform superhuman feats, faired rather well in his domain.

In fact, that's probably why I was being restrained to such a ridiculous extent.

"Fair? It's already unfair to give this guy a group, if it were up to me, I'd send him alone, but that defeats the purpose of a group activity. But honestly, you should've seen old man Alexander, he was telling us to chain you and blind fold you. It's a bit ridiculous though, I mean, I know that without things like Mana, Bloodline Abilities, and the like, you've got a ridiculous advantage, but surely chains and a blindfold are a bit too excessive."

Then he flipped a few pages in his note book and registered us.

"Valier... Angelica... Dante, and Isabel? You're all good to go, if you just stand over there where everyone else is, we'll brief you and then it'll begin."