The Author's POV

Chapter 8: Lock [2]

Arriving in front of a large room, Donna who stood in front of everyone turned on the lights and said "There's a wide selection of weapons here, so feel free to choose what you deem to be the best fit for you"

A large room appeared before everyone, and the diversity of weapons present here left me speechless. From nunchucks to broadswords. All sorts of weapons that were neatly laid out according to their size were being displayed before us.

I was honestly impressed.

There were so many of them that I couldn't even tell what some of the weapons were.

"I'd be very careful if I were you. If you damage any weapon present, you better be ready to pay up to 500,000 U."

Staring at the excited expression of the students in the class, Donna immediately poured cold water on them as she pointed out the price of each weapon. Some students couldn't help but flinch as they started looking at the weapons like they were some sort of divine artifact.

"I advise using a weapon that is suitable for you so that you don't risk damaging the weapon. Experimenting is good, but that is only if you can afford it"

Looking at the 200 or so students before her, Donna cheerfully smiled and continued "Before taking a weapon, swipe your student card so that you can register your name on the database. After that take your weapon and meet me in the main practice area"

Having finished what she wanted to say, Donna turned around and left.

As soon as her figure wasn't visible anymore, everyone started talking excitedly. Especially the boys.

"Wow, that was the 'Calamity witch'?"

"She's so hot!"

"Oh my god I think I've fallen in love"

"Pfff. You wish, someone like her would never like a loser like you!"

"Wanna fight!"

Scenes like these happened everywhere as the students had already formed their own clique.

I as the lowest-ranked member am obviously excluded from them.

And to be honest, it was exactly what I wished for, as I don't want to spend my time licking someone's ass.

In the lock, the hierarchical system ruled the academy.

Just like the relationship of a peasant and a noble. Only those who were ranked higher had the right to be treated as nobles. Low-rankers like me were merely people who would later become cannon fodder when fighting on the frontlines.

Such was my life now, as the lowest rank in the class.

Contrary to me who was all alone. The main characters were surrounded by a crowd of people.

Kevin, Jin, Amanda, Emma, and Mellissa all had people swarming around them.

Apart from Kevin, the rest were already used to such situations and thus were able to remain indifferent towards the waves of flattery coming from every person's mouth.

But for Kevin, who was not used to such a situation, found himself completely helpless. His previous demeanor, which caused one to respect him completely crumbled as he struggled to get away from the mob.

He wore a stiff smile the whole time, and he tried his best to not come off overly rude as he politely tried to talk to everyone.

"Right now he's probably thinking of a way to get his weapon and escape as fast as possible"

I laughed as I shook my head.

Such was the life of those who wish to stand out.

Ignoring the helpless Kevin, I turned my attention towards the sword section in the armory.

As I already know what I want, I quickly swiped my card and took a slim and elegant Katana.

The leather grip comfortably sat on my hands and the cold metal blade directly reflected the lights from the room.

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Swoosh! Swoosh!

"Perfect"

Lightly swinging the katana a couple of times I nodded in satisfaction.

Its weight was neither too heavy nor too light, and added with its durable blade which was made of an extremely tough alloy made the katana a perfect fit for my sword art.

Taking the sword with me, I quickly walked out of the room.

Since I got everything I wanted, I made my way towards the training ground.

…

A large expansive ground appeared before me as I arrived in the training area.

The whole training facility was around the size of two football fields.

On the top right of the training ground was a shooting range that was split into five different distances which ranged from 100m all the way to 500m.

On the bottom right of the training ground, there were more than a dozen practice dummies that were perfect for close combat practice.

The training dummies were made of Forlum, an extremely tough metal that could even withstand the impact of an A-rank demon.

With its extremely durable body made of Forlum, students could train against the dummies without worrying about breaking them.

The middle area of the training facility was free for all, meaning that it did not have anything.

This was just mainly used to practice moves or footsteps.

Basically, it was an area that everyone could use to practice whatever technique they wanted to practice.

At the top left, there was a large gym fully equipped with top-of-the-line equipment, moreover, and most importantly, they had a gravity room that went all the way up to 10g.

With the gravity room, one could train and tamper their body with the aid of the room that could increase the gravitational force bearing down on a person.

Lastly, at the bottom left of the training ground a large swimming pool that was fifty meters long appeared before my sight.

The swimming pool was one of the most frequented places as it was extremely useful for condition training, as it helped muscles recover faster from fatigue due to the special medical ingredients that were added in the water.

"Alright, as I told you before since it's your first day you don't need to force yourself. I'll be here to supervise you all."

Gathering's everyone attention Donna happily smiled as she looked at the training ground.

"Now go and train! Time waits for no one"

Instantly everyone moved.

Some directly went to the dummies, while others towards the shooting range.

I curiously looked around and found Kevin, Jin, and Melissa heading for the training dummies, while Emma directly went towards the gravity room.

On the other hand, Amanda made her way towards the shooting range.

As I mentioned before Kevin's specialty was the sword.

Although he still did not practice the [Levisha style], his talent for the sword was still unrivaled. If I were to estimate his strength at the moment, I would say even if fifty versions of the current me were to attack him now he would be able to walk unscathed.

Jin on the other hand did not use a sword but instead used daggers.

He was what you called an assassin-type. He was extremely fast and agile and with his unrivaled speed could cut a person twenty times in a matter of seconds.

Melissa the second-ranked in the class used a spear.

She was also incredibly beautiful. Enough to rival both Emma and Amanda, but she was also a lot smarter than them.

She had an elegant and beautiful porcelain face that perfectly accompanied her creamy brown hair that gently fell behind her back. Most eye-catching were her exquisite cheeks and rosy moist lips that could tempt any man who saw them. A pair of pure glassy eyes hid underneath thin-framed glasses that put further emphasis on her eyes, enhancing her beauty. Her swan-like slender neck, under which her delicate sexy clavicle and full front that was lightly exposed, only further added to her charm as her delicate waist and creamy white legs added the finishing touches to her peerless appearance

At the tender age of 12, she was awarded the Humanity treaty award, the most notable award for those who achieve outstanding breakthroughs that propel humanity to the next level. Similar to the noble prize back in my world.

The reason why she won the award was because she was able to prove the molecular decomposition theorem that stumped a lot of famous scientists all over the world.

Her discovery was a major scientific achievement that shook the whole scientific community.

With the molecular decomposition theorem, diseases such as cancer that plagued the world were no longer an issue as this theorem directly tackled the crux of the problem!

The only reason she ranked second and not first in the academy ranking was simply because she was not very strong. Having spent most of her time researching, she did not have much time to improve her skills, and thus why during the admission test her physical score was only slightly above average.

But don't get me wrong, that in itself was an achievement, as my score was on the lower side of average.

Emma on the other hand uses a shortsword, and her fighting style was extremely fierce and aggressive.

Her fighting style reminded one of a berserker as she would leave no breathing room for the opponent when she attacked.

Honestly…she was probably the one I would least want to fight out of the lot as it would be extremely troublesome for my [keiki style].

Lastly Amanda. She was an archer, a really good one at that.

Out of the whole classroom, she was probably the only one who could accurately hit a target positioned 500-meter in the distance.

A prodigy that could only be seen every couple of hundred years, was what every professor said about her as they looked at her archery.

Those were the main characters

As for me?

Well, I'm just gonna practice in the middle area.

Since the [Keiki style] was a lost art, even if I practice it, no one would probably notice it.

Moreover, the way to practice the [Keiki style] would make one think they were crazy.

Closing my eyes I maximized my concentration.

Shing! Shing!

In one smooth movement, I took the katana from the scabbard hacked forward and placed the katana back into the scabbard.

"5 seconds"

Shaking my head, I repeated the same motion again.

The first movement of the [Keiki style] : Quick flash

A one-dimensional slash that could only hit forward with an overwhelming speed that could not be seen by the naked eye.

The [Keiki style] only had 5 movements, but each movement was crucial.

Each movement was like a piece of a 5 piece puzzle that would later combine and create the true [Keiki style]

For example, right now the first movement was only a single one-dimensional slash forward, while on the other hand, the second movement was a horizontal slash.

If the two movements were to be combined together, the range of movement when attacking an enemy would drastically increase.

Each movement was designed to add synergy to the other.

Once one mastered the [Keiki style], they would be able to attack wherever they wanted at an unrivaled speed.

You could say that the reason why the [Keiki style] was split into five forms was because one needed to learn the foundation before practicing the true art.

That was the true method of learning the [Keiki style]

-Shing! -Shing!

Without taking a break I continued repeating the same movement over and over again.

"According to the memories Master gave me, I can achieve the minor realm of mastery after doing the same movement over 100,000 times"

When learning a sword art there were ways to determine the level of mastery.

There was the minor realm of mastery, the great realm of mastery, the essence realm of mastery, and lastly the perfected realm of mastery.

Each realm signified a percentage of understanding of the whole sword art.

The minor realm of mastery required a 25% understanding of the sword art.

The great realm of mastery required a 50% understanding, the essence realm required a 75% understanding, and lastly the perfected realm.

The pinnacle of art mastery, with a 100% understanding of the sword art.

Currently, my aim was to get all five movements up to the minor realms, before later improving them.

…

A relatively handsome man stood at the edge of the training ground. He had dirt blond hair and carried a noble air around him that reminded people of a high-ranking aristocrat.

Turning his head, he looked at the beautiful woman standing next him and asked.

"What do you think of this batch?"

Staring at the distance, the beautiful woman who was in fact Donna Longbern, looked around and pointed towards a few individuals.

"There are a lot of promising youths, especially in this batch, but the ones that stand out the most to me are Kevin, Jin, Amanda, Emma, Melissa, and Han yufei."

Looking at where Donna pointed, the handsome man thoughtfully nodded.

"Well it isn't surprising considering their lineage"

Glancing at the man beside her, Donna scoffed

"I agree, their lineage is indeed impressive, but that's not what makes them great. The blood sweat and tears they put into their training are what make them this good. Just because they were born with successful parents doesn't mean they will also be successful. Unless you put in the work, no matter how talented you are, you won't ever be strong"

Slightly smiling the man responded.

"Well, I wonder about that. Speaking of which, is there anyone you have your eye on?"

Without hesitation, Donna responded

"Kevin Voss"

Slightly surprised by her quick response, the handsome man seemed to have recollected something and a trace of coldness appeared in his eyes before it quickly disappeared as if nothing happened.

"You mean the kid who set an unprecedented record and firmly took first place in the entrance exam? I'm rather curious about him too. Someone with seemingly no powerful backer managed to come this far. That's rather odd isn't it?"

He dropped subtle hints as he spoke, which made Donna secretly sneer at his attitude.

"I was one of the supervisors during the test and was quite impressed by his swordplay. It was elegant and yet had no wasteful movements. I can confidently say that soon enough there will be another S class in our ranks."

Looking at Donna who didn't even bother hiding her displeasure, the man just smiled and he casually said.

"Oh? for the calamity witch herself to speak so highly of him, it must mean that he really is a talent to look out for"

Glaring at the man beside her, she threadedly spoke.

"Gilbert. Call me that one more time and I'll kill you. Just because your father is powerful doesn't mean I won't do anything to you."

"Hey, hey, I was just joking. You don't have to take it so seriously"

Raising his hands in resignation, Gilbert slightly smiled.

"Hmph"

Turning her head away, Donna continued watching the training ground.

Standing beside her, Gilbert's smile quickly disappeared as he stared at Kevin in the distance. Thereafter his attention quickly shifted towards the middle of the training ground where he saw a lone youth practicing with a katana.

"Pffff, who the hell is he?"

Without even bothering to hide his ridicule, Gilbert laughed as he pointed at the student who was practicing with the katana.

Staring in the direction where Gilber pointed, Donna quickly frowned as she stared at the boy.

Taking out her tablet, she quickly scrolled down until a picture resembling the features of the youth appeared.

"Rank 1750, Ren Dover. Age 16, son of the guild master of Galxicus, a mid-ranged guild operating in Ashton city. Talent assessment D"

Seemingly having understood, he shook his head and gloatingly looked at Donna

"What did I tell you? Only those with a proper bloodline can hope to achieve something. People like him who are born with mediocre parents can never hope to stand at the top with elites like us"

Even though Donna wanted to refute, she couldn't. Looking at Ren who was constantly unsheathing and sheathing the sword, she shook her head in disappointment.

What kind of training was that?

At least swing your sword instead of just Unsheathing and sheathing the sword.