My first week was good; it was more theoretical, focusing on monsters and how to engage them. Similar to humans, we rank monsters with E being the weakest and A being the strongest. There are also S-tier monsters, but those are more like fairytales. Researchers have discovered skeletons and signs of massive battles in some portals, leading them to conclude that a terrifying entity has fought here. Thanks to Edward, I was doing well. He helped me a lot. I joined a few months later than the other students, so I had much catching up to do. Edward and I often studied alone together in the library. It seemed he enjoyed attention, and I was the perfect source for it. I can say it felt more like a book club than a military base for me, reading book after book. Even though I was the weakest among my peers, there wasn't any bullying directed at me. I just received a lot of strange stares from people, but it wasn't the worst. Edward said that since we hadn't had any real combat classes or gone on any portal raids, the power hierarchy was not yet established. This made me anxious. I was still nobody, combat classes for me sounded terrible. I lack any combat abilities, and I have not yet formed a bond with my weapon. I feared that using the sword would cause immense pain, like it was with that dagger, so I decided to wait until the weekend to be safe. The day passed quickly, making this Friday feel more significant than the others. Usually, cadets can't leave campus on weekends, but this time was different. Soon, we would begin truly painful combat lessons and their first mission in the portal. They could go home for the weekend, drink in the city, or read and practice in the library. Even Edward decided to leave campus for the weekend to visit his grandparents. Everyone, except for me, had plans to spend time outdoors, and despite my desire, I couldn't join them. I was still too far behind compared to the other students; I would have loved to grab a drink outside. When my last lecture of the day ended on Friday, I quickly ran to my room, sat on the bed, took out the sword, placed it on my lap, and stared at it. I had waited for this all week; I was so excited to find out what would happen. I turned my gaze to the corner where Edward had been sleeping, only to find his bag gone. He must have left already. I stood up, walked to the door, and made sure I had locked it. "Okay, I guess that's it; let's see what happens," I said to myself. The same text appeared like magic before my eyes.
"Weapon acceptable, do you want to start bonding?"
"Yes," I thought in my mind. The text disappeared, and for a few moments, nothing seemed to happen. Suddenly, I sensed the sword becoming lodged in my hand. The handle began to distort, turning black and becoming covered with thick black threads that climbed up my forearms. I ran to my bed, knowing what was going to happen next. As soon as I landed on the bed, a piercing pain shot through my head. I closed my eyes and saw words translating from an unknown language to English. Strange runes flickered in my vision, reminiscent of old code coming to life. With each passing second, more of the runes transformed into English, creating a chaotic blend of symbols and words. It all happened so fast that I couldn't read or understand what was going on. Words flashed in front of my eyes, an endless stream of them; it just wouldn't stop. After what felt like hours, the pain finally stopped. I slowly opened my eyes, and in the corner of my vision, I saw a blinking dark symbol. When I focused on it, a screen appeared.
"System unlocked. Your rank is Light Flame. Now available:
Skills
Abilities
Leveling
Quests
I sat at the foot of the bed, my mind blank. Do I have skills? As this thought crossed my mind, a new window appeared.
"No skills available yet; complete quests or defeat enemies to learn and obtain new abilities."
"Available ability:
Basic Heal—Level 1. Heals even fatal damage over time; cannot regrow limbs."
This is insane. I have a system in my head, like an old video game. It says I can level up. Does this mean I won't be an E rank? Healing is just one ability, and it seems I can learn more. What will happen if I level up? And what's with that rank name? A Flame? I felt a mix of emotions inside me; part of me felt joyful, while another part felt afraid. I hadn't heard anything like this before, and it all came from that strange man who was imprisoned underground. I sat for hours, staring at the system, contemplating what to do next. Can I even talk about it to someone? Will they consider me insane, or will I become a laboratory rat for the military? People with rare powers usually end up in a lab. And what does it mean that I was bonded with my weapon? I looked at the short sword in my hand, gave it a few swings, and set it down in disappointment; nothing happened. Driven by curiosity, I tried to learn about the system as much as I could. It seemed that whenever I thought about something, it reacted. For example, when I wanted to see my abilities, I just thought about it, and the information opened up. After hours of testing, I realized there wasn't much more to discover in the system in my head. The long day had taken its toll on me, and soon I fell asleep.
A loud bang in the corridor, accompanied by a deafening scream, jolted me awake in the middle of the night. In an instant, I was alert. What was happening? Was someone hurt? I hurried to the door, hastily putting on clothes as I moved. When I opened the door, I saw a student on the ground, knocked out, blood smeared across his face. Many people had stepped out of their rooms, staring at the scene, but no one seemed willing to intervene. Behind him stood two male students and one female. They appeared to be arguing, but their body language suggested a fight was imminent. I began to close my door; it wasn't my business, and what could I do? Another message appeared just as I was about to close the door.
New Quest—Help the girl.
I had hoped for some quests, but this one didn't sit well with me. What could I do? Heal myself until they grew bored and stopped? I paced back and forth in my room, trying to figure out my next move. The quest instructed me to help; perhaps if I could distract them long enough for the girl to escape, it would still count. Yelling in the corridor interrupted my thoughts; the situation was escalating. I needed to act now or just walk away. I couldn't use my sword; killing or intent to kill was forbidden at the Academy, so I needed something that could inflict pain but not cause death. The only object that caught my eye was a chair. I positioned one of the chair legs on my bed frame and stepped on it until the leg broke off. I swung the makeshift weapon a few times. Well, I had my weapon now.
I opened my door as quietly as I could. The two men stood with their backs to me, giving me a chance for a surprise attack. I crept closer, my footsteps silent, though my heart pounded so loudly I worried it would give me away. When I was within striking distance of the first attacker, I swung the wooden leg at the side of his face. The impact knocked him to the ground. As his body hit the floor, the person who had been yelling at the girl turned to face me. Well, I had his attention now.
He looked at his fallen friend for a second, then raised his head and looked at me. His sweatpants, white tank top, and the expression in his eyes suggested to me that he had a penchant for causing trouble. He scratched his bald head, glanced at my barely visible rank number on my bracelet, and then looked again at his friend on the ground. He shook his head and started to walk slowly toward me. He didn't even assume a fighting stance; he just walked slowly, hands in his pockets, as if I posed no threat at all. With each step he took closer to me, my hands began to shake more. When he got close enough for my homemade chair leg attack, I swung it hard, aiming straight for his head, trying to knock him out with one strong strike. Just when the wooden leg was a few inches from his face, it stopped. One of his hands left his pocket and managed to grab it before it could reach him. We both stood still for a second, as if time had stopped and we didn't know what to do next. Suddenly, he pulled me toward him and grabbed my wrist with his other hand. Before I could even react, my feet left the ground. He flung me against the corridor wall, sending pieces of wood flying out and leaving behind the shape of a body on the wall. I fell to the floor, coughed up blood, and felt all the air leave my lungs as I gasped for breath and spat up blood. He placed his hands back in his pants and started walking toward me. I stared at the ground, trying to get my breathing in order, hearing each footstep he took, and with each step, a thought crossed my mind: I would soon be in much worse shape when he got close. As I raised my head, I saw the heel of a boot flying toward me from above. Milliseconds before it was going to hit me, I managed to roll away, over the pile of wood, and stood up. "No wonder you want to fight girls; you can't handle me at all, like your friend over here," I said with a cocky tone. His facial expression didn't change. He seemed happy, like a cow that had just escaped to the fields after a long winter. A few seconds after those words left my mouth, he charged at me. This time, I didn't roll away or try to escape; I charged forward. When we clashed in the middle, I managed to slip beside him. When I looked back, he was just standing there. Slowly, he turned around to face me, his head looking down at his stomach. A piece of wood from the wall was sticking out of his body.
I could see a trickle of blood oozing from the wound, but the amount was so minimal that it frightened me. Did he possess healing powers and enhanced strength as well? As I was formulating my next move, crafting intricate battle plans and escape routes, he spoke, "Let's dance, little worm," before removing the piece of wood and tossing it to the ground. He began to walk toward me, this time with his hands at his sides. I assumed he was now serious; the game was over. I scanned my surroundings, pondering what makeshift weapon I could use. Suddenly, I felt a strong punch in my ribs, followed by a cracking sound, as if something had just broken. When I lifted my head, I saw him standing in front of me, his fist buried in my stomach. How did he get so close so quickly? I didn't even see him move. The hit was so powerful that it lifted my feet off the ground a little. The intense pain felt like a cannonball striking me; blood filled my mouth once more. He didn't give me a moment to react; as I began to fall, he landed a sidekick that slammed me against the wall before I crumpled to the ground. My vision blurred; if it weren't for the healing, I would be lying unconscious. When he saw me down on the ground, he casually placed his hand back into his pants and walked toward me. I summoned all my strength to rise. There was just enough energy left for one final strike. I couldn't gauge the distance between us; my vision was too hazy. On the brink of collapse, I threw a hammer strike in front of me, uncertain if anyone was even there. The strike was fueled by adrenaline and anger. Hunters had devastated my life, and now they were decimating me once more. He was too far away for the strike to land, but it didn't matter. As my hand reached the same level as he was, small black threads appeared in forearms and my sword materialized in my grip and flew toward him, embedding itself in his chest. In that instant, we both fell to the ground.