Card

Ethan walked into the classroom as he felt multiple sets of eyes boring into him. Tack...tack...tack. He could hear a tree branch lightly hitting the window sill. There was absolute silence in Class 1-10. Tap...tap...tap. He awkwardly shuffled his feet as he headed to his seat. Everybody stared at him as he sat down.

People looked at him with a wave of different emotions. Some felt disdain, others felt pity. But none of them spoke a single word as they continued to stare at him. Perhaps it was fear. They were afraid of associating themselves with somebody who messed with Pebble House. Shine! Luna winked at him and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled slightly. He wasn't completely alone.

Tap...tap...tap. "Alright, students! Settle down!" Suddenly, Ada walked into the room. She looked around, noticing the look on everybody's faces. "What's going on here? Why're you guys so serious? Did something...." Her voice trailed off as her eyes landed on Ethan. "Ahem! Ah...Ethan! I hope you've recovered. Please be sure to cover up what you've missed with the help of your fellow students."

She looked away quickly. "Anyways, I have an announcement to make. In two days, we're going to be entering an F ranked gate." Suddenly, the room was full of murmurs. "An F-ranked gate?" "So soon?" "Won't it be dangerous?"

"Quiet!" Ada sent a pulse of mana through the air, shutting everybody down. "As some very smart students have pointed out, an F ranked gate is, indeed, dangerous." A couple of people snickered. "However, we are well aware of that fact. We are not fools to send you in such a place. Sam!" A boy stood up. Ethan's eyes narrowed. It was the simp!

"Yeas, ma'am!" He stood up proudly, making sure that Luna could see him. Ethan rolled his eyes. "Tell me, what's your current rank." "G-7, ma'am!" "And how long did you take to get to this rank?" "Three years." "So in short, you took 5 months to get through each rank. Am I right?" "Yes..." His voice trailed off as he started to realise something.

"Dust House has been given three months to get to F rank. That's four stages in 3 months for you guys. Or, one stage in three weeks. Do you see the problem?" Everybody stared at her as they took in her words silently. This was something they'd all somewhat known, but subconsciously forgotten about. It was easier to assume everything would be fine, doing their best everyday and hoping they wouldn't be wrong.

"Any student who fails to reach F rank by the end of August can pack there bags and go home. Because even if you have enough merit points, KGS will not keep you here. And the class in front of me is the one with the highest number of dropouts in the entirety of Keystone. Class 1-10. So you'd better best stay on your toes. Or you might not stick in this school."

Nobody spoke a word as they gazed at Ada. Her words had hit them pretty heavily. Every word she had spoken was full of cold, hard truth, that made them afraid for their futures. "Now tell me! Do any of you have any qualms about going to the F ranked gate? Because if you do, you are free to start packing your bags. Because I'm not sure where else you'll be using your time."

Shuffle...shuffle. Ada put her hand into a plastic bag, pulling out a pile of cards. "On that note, today, I'll be distributing a skill card to each one of you. You have two days. Make sure you establish a pathway before we enter the gate. Your life depends on it." Tap...tap...tap. She walked around the class, distributing a card to each person personally.

Tap...tap...tap. She slowed down in front of Ethan. "Ah, Ethan! How are you? I hope you're doing well?" Ethan was hit with a blast of perfume as a pair of legs materialised in front of him. He looked up. "Yes, ma'am. I've recovered."

She continued to stare into his eyes. "Well, unfortunately, I didn't bring a skill card for you. You can borrow it from one of your friends. I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help." She smiled ast him. Here malicious eyes gazed at him with interest, waiting for him to react. "Sure, ma'am. I'll ask one of my very good friends to help me. I'm sure I'll be fine." He smiled back at her, perfectly copying her expression.

There was a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "I see. Well, make sure to help Ethan. After all, he's done so much for your class. You should help him out." Ada raised her voice so that everybody could here her. Ethan clenched his teeth in frustration as he felt several contemptuous gazes on him.

Sure, he would be 'helped' by his 'friends', just like Ada had said. He sighed as he leaned on his ar. Maybe he could ask Star. But he had no idea where to find him. Sure, he came to visit him when he was in the medical ward. But that didn't mean that Ethan could walk up to Pebble House and ask for him. He'd be kicked out immediately.

Ethan slumped into his chair as Ada continued to drone on.

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Knock! Knock! "Ethan! Can I come in?" "It's may, not can," thought Ethan inwardly, as he opened the door to his room. Creak! "Luna! What are you doing here?" She gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean? Didn't Ada say that we had to help you out?" He stared at her dumbly. "You...are you serious right now." "Of course! I'll share my skill card with you. Now move! You're blocking the doorway."

Luna walked into his room. "Hmm. Nice room. You're pretty neat, if I may say so myself!" Ethan grimaced as she sat down on his bed . "You don't have to be that polite." Luna pouted. "Come on! You're not supposed to say that! Just accept the gesture."

Ethan waved his arms dismissively. "I know how messy it is. Especially since nobody comes into my room to clean it any more." "Forget it. Anyways, let's get started." Luna pulled out a skill card from her pocket as she held it out. Ethan held it in his hand, injecting a bit of mana into it. Whoosh! A wave of magic coursed through him as he got a glimpse into the skill. "This...this is 'Magic Sense'!"

Magic Sense- A must-have skill for every single gatekeeper without which the APF didn't issue Gatekeeping Licenses. "They're giving this to us this early?" "Well, yeah! The earlier we learn it, the better, right?"

Magic Sense was a skill that allowed awakeners to send a bit of their mana into their surroundings. It served as a map and scout skill. Sending mana into the environment would give gatekeepers a preliminary understanding of their immediate surroundings. And using the skill on any entity's - monsters or other awakeners - allowed them to 'appraise' them, helping them to detect their power levels.

Most gatekeepers rarely levelled up this skill further than G rank. After all, it was a skill with a pathway that never interacted with their personal skills, so leaving it untouched wouldn't make a difference to their individuality as an awakener. This was why it was so popular.

Of course, it wasn't a perfect skill. It didn't physically present the information on a screen. The skill worked more like a sixth sense - it gave off different sensations for different entities. Identifying the rank and species of that entity was just a matter of remembering the sensation - just like how both rose and jasmine smelled 'sweet', but identifying the flowers by their smell was a matter of memorisation.

"Wow! They expect us to learn this skill in two days?" Establishing a pathway for such a skill would be tough. Ethan had needed a week to create a pathway for his 'Mirror Blade' skill. Learning this skill in two days seemed, well, impossible. "They're crazy!"

Luna waved her hands dismissively. "Now, now. Crying about it isn't going to help. All we need to sacrifice is a bit of sleep." She smiled. "We've got two days, so we'd best use them wisely. Let's begin!" She took the card back from Ethan. He placed a palm on his face in frustration.. Two days? It seemed like KGS wouldn't let them sleep. He sighed. "Alright. Let's begin." He prepared himself for the ordeal that was about to follow.