Preparations

Beep!

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[Name: Ethan Miller]

[Age:15]

[Status: Awakener(Physical)]

[- Stats]

[Attributes: None]

[Rank: G-7]

[Strength: G-7]

[Agility: G-7]

[Stamina: G-6]

[Mana: G-6]

[Magical circuit: G-6]

[Personal stat(unnamed): G-5]

[- Skills]

[Mirror Blade (G)]

[Mana Sense (G)]

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Huff...huff...huff. Ethan breathed loudly as he stared at the screen in front of him. He was completely drained of all energy. "Yay! Congratulations! You've learnt the skill so quickly!" Luna lightly clapped her hands as she celebrated Ethan finally learning the skill. "You...you...You have no right to say that." Ethan barely caught his breath as he lay on the bed.

"What do you mean?" Luna smiled back at him. Ethan grimaced. Over the last 24 hours, he'd learnt to hate that smile of hers. "You already learnt the skill 2 hours ago. Even after we were taking turns using that skill card." Luna was a Physical type awakener, just like Ethan. So she didn't even have any advantage in learning skills, owing to a high Magical Circuit stat, like Ethan did.

Ethan sat up on his bed. Maybe she secretly has an OP system like Noah. He snickered. "What are you laughing at?" "Nothing." Ethan shook his head. "I just thought of something funny." "What is..." Beep! Beep! Suddenly, their watches beeped simultaneously.

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[Notice: Groups for gate expedition]

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Ethan sighed. "They aren't even giving us enough time to rest!" He looked at Luna. "Who's on your team?" She didn't reply. Luna continued to stare at her watch as her face froze. "Luna?" Ethan watched as her faced paled, slowly morphing into one of horror. "Hey Luna! Are you alright? Did something happen?"

"Huh?" Luna looked up from her watch as if she heard him for the first time. "Ethan! I just remembered. I've got to go somewhere right now." She stood up as she prepared to leave. "What do you mean? Did something happen?" Luna smiled awkwardly at him. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing important." She rushed towards the door as she headed outside.

Ethan stood up, trying to follow her. He ducked his head out of the door. She was nowhere to be seen. All traces of her had disappeared. "She rushed out as fast as she could. I wonder what happened." He walked back into his room. Never mind. It was better not to pry into other's business. Especially when they didn't want you to know about it.

Beep!

He clicked on his watch.

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[50 groups of ten people each, constituting one member from each class will be created. 5 teams will enter one F rank gate, separately. Each team will be given a set of missions, to be completed over a set of 6 hours. Please note the members of your team.]

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Ethan groaned. One person from each class? His teammates would have a field day, messing with him and not letting him do anything in this expedition. "Fuck!" He hoped that he wouldn't be teamed up with Damian Stella at the very least. He scrolled through the list, skimming through the names as he checked if there was anybody he knew on his team.

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[Class 10- Ethan Miller]

[]Class 9- Rico Sanchez]

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[Class 2- Emma Stern]

[Class 1- Noah Evans]

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Ethan's blood ran cold. Noah Evans? He was grouped with Noah Evans? He swore. "Fucking hell!" Was this world correction or something? Was he being punished for knowing the future? There was no way his luck could be this bad!

"Noah Evans...Noah Evans..." Ethan muttered his name like a charm, trying to ward off his presence. Noah Evans. The titular protagonist of this world. The calamity magnet. The overpowered, ruthless awakener who was nothing short of a monster. Ethan dug his nails into his face as he moaned in despair. "Why? Why? Why me?"

Ethan double and triple checked the list, confirming Noah's presence. "Alright! Alright!" He calmed himself down. So what if he was paired with Noah? It wasn't like something bad was bound to happen, right? He shook his head. No. Tomorrow's expedition was going to be anything but smooth. He knew it. He'd read 'The Ghost System', after all.

He punched the wall in frustration. He knew exactly what was going to happen tomorrow. But he had no way of preventing it. He didn't have any solid proof. And even if he did, Ada would just use that as an excuse to dock points off him for 'refusing to participate'. He grinded his teeth in frustration. Alright. He'd make a few preparations. Beep! He clicked on his watch, preparing himself for the expedition. He wasn't planning on dying so early.

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Ethan yawned loudly as he sat in his class, waiting for something to happen. These damn Keystone bastards! They'd forced them to report at 7:00 a.m. in the morning. And on a Sunday of all days! One of the only two days of freedom that they were allowed! He ran his arm across the fabric of his suit as he tapped his foot nervously.

Luna hadn't shown up today. He had no idea where she was. He sat in his place, looking around as he waited for something to happen. It reminded him of his days before he had become Ethan Miller. When he used to sit and stare around, observing the entire class as he watched quietly. Perhaps he hadn't changed much since then. He smiled slightly.

"Alright students. I'm going to call out your names one by one. Head to the classes I tell you to go to. Don't waste your time wandering around. You do not want to mess up today's expedition. You guys already have little chance of clearing this gate anyway." Ada walked into the class as she spoke sternly. Ethan sighed. The day was already going terribly. He didn't need to hear her melancholic predictions to dampen it even more.

Ada called out a bunch of names as she waded through the list "...Ethan Miller. Class 7." Ethan stood up. "Ethan! I hoped you managed to learn the skill. I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience." She smiled at him, waiting for him to answer. "No problem. Thanks to the help of one of my dear friends, I managed to learn the skill." Ethan smiled back at her.

"Good! Head to Class 1-7." She turned away as she looked at the list, already forgetting about Ethan. Tap...tap...tap. His feet fell on the floor as he walked out of the class. "Class 9...Class 8...Here it is!" He stood in front of a room as he read the sign above him. "Hm...Class 1-7. This is it." Thud...thud...thud. His heart beat nervously as he stood in front of the door. "Well, no point in waiting any longer."

Creak! Ethan pushed open the door as he walked inside. Suddenly, he froze. "...and what did you do after..." He knew this face all too well. Long, wavy black hair with red eyes. A face almost any boy could have. But Ethan could never forget the person in front of him. He clenched his fist. "Douglas!"

Ethan's blue eyes bore into Douglas as he continued to stare at him in rage. Douglas looked up. He could feel Ethan's sharp gaze on him. It was almost impossible not to notice him. The intensity of his eyes were something that Douglas could not ignore. He stared back at Ethan, unfazed by him.

"Sir! You were saying?" Douglas turned back towards the person he was speaking to. "I'll talk to you later. Meet me tomorrow. I'll send you the location." He stood up as he walked towards the door, right where Ethan was. Tap! Tap! Tap! The room was full of the sounds of people talking, yet Ethan could hear Douglas' footsteps perfectly.

Tap! Douglas stopped in front of Ethan as he stared into his blue eyes. He looked down at Ethan. This guy was an insect. There was no need to waste any time dealing with him personally. "Move aside...trash." Disdain. That was all that there was in Douglas' eyes. All he felt for Ethan was disdain and disgust. He considered himself to be far above this lowly creature, at a height where he could never reach.

"Hey Douglas! Wonder why the guys you sent after me are injured?" Douglas froze. This insect! What the hell was he saying? Ethan smiled frostily. "I've almost caught up with Class 7. How long do you think it'll take for me to overtake you." Ethan whispered softly as his words pierced through Douglas' ears.

Douglas' eyes wavered slightly. Was this guy the reason why Zack and his group were badly injured? He stared at Ethan. No that was impossible. Ethan was obviously bluffing. There was no way he could stand his ground against four Class 7 people at once. He stared down at Ethan. "Keep dreaming, trash. I'll burn you down. Just like I burned your house." Ethan's eyes blazed. Douglas tensed his body, preparing for a clash. Surely he wouldn't attack him right now, would he?

WHOOSH! Suddenly, a cold aura descended into the entire room. Everybody stopped talking. Douglas took a step back as he shook in fear. What was happening? A voice burst through the door. "Get out of the way!" TAP! TAP! TAP! A set of footsteps echoed as somebody walked into the room. Ethan turned around. Ba-dump...ba-dump...ba-dump. He stared into a set of dark, empty eyes as an intense pressure descended upon him. He froze.

Who could forget this famous figure? The sole awakener who'd overtaken even the five heirs in terms of power. The cold-hearted, extremely powerful powerhouse who none could ever hope to rival. And the protagonist of this world. Ethan stared into the eyes of Noah Evans.