“Double?” Merry frowned. “Are you joking, Arthur? You cannot do that in one week.”
The woman had seen all kinds of people before and had witnessed the progress of many talents across her lifespan. There was simply no way he could double his strength in one week let alone triple it.
‘Even the best talents to ever exist can’t do that. He’s already at a level where each step will be harder than the one before it.’ She thought to herself as she eyed Arthur up and down. But, no matter how she looked at it, he was clearly being serious.
“No, why would I joke?” Arthur retorted. “I know what I can do. A week is more than enough for me to get way stronger. Now that I got myself a sword, all I have to do is focus on working hard. Then, I should be ready for the battle. Very simple.”
Arthur’s plan was quite straightforward from that point on. After finishing his work on Horizon, he was now going to dedicate his entire time from the moment he steps into the game to the moment he leaves to grinding and killing monsters inside the tower.
He knew that the tower was the perfect place for him to hone his skills and get stronger way faster. The monsters inside that place were very strong and that was what he exactly needed. With the help of his new powers, his blood eater ability, and his techniques, Arthur could see his goal to be very possible.
Merry wasn’t aware of what he had hidden so she assumed it was completely ridiculous to even think that was possible.
“…” The woman didn’t reply as she kept staring at Arthur.
“Well, in any case, you will see,” Arthur replied as he turned around to leave. “I shall see you in a week. You can tell me then if I can or cannot do it. Bye~” The boy winked before he got down from the carriage and left the area.
Merry was left alone inside her moving shop, still absorbing everything Arthur said. Then, slowly, her expression shifted.
“Haha… Hahahahaha…” She started laughing audibly as she held her face. “This kid. Interesting… Truly interesting. I will see with my own eyes what you have in store.”
For some reason, Merry felt very amused and not as skeptical as she expected herself to be. Even when she refused to believe it earlier, it was more out of logic and common sense than disbelief. Now, the more she listened to Arthur and interacted with him, the more she realized that things weren’t really going to be normal when it came to this kid.
“We were never searching for the norm… If we are going to pull a miracle, we need one who creates miracles.”
***
After leaving the carriage, Arthur took a spot where he could log out. He wanted to first figure out what this new sword of his is truly about but when he realized the time, he decided to postpone it to tomorrow when he has way more time.
Leaving the capsule, Arthur stretched his arms and looked around. The time was very late into the night, two hours before school. So, he decided to spend it studying. After taking a shower, he sat down on his desk and started working on his homework and subjects.
Time slowly passed for him till the morning arrived and the sun peeked through the window. That was when Arthur stopped studying and finally started preparing himself for school.
“The start of the third week in the academy. Time has been moving quite fast.” Arthur muttered as he looked into the mirror. “Still a lot to do. I can’t lose focus or get too occupied with one thing or another. The time isn’t going to help me.” Slapping his face a few times, he picked up his device and left the dormitory, heading to the Institution.
On the way, Arthur met his usual clique, Herculia and Danny who were leaving earlier than usual.
The trio reached the parking area where they found Emmy and Isla. The two had been waiting for them.
The group then started going up the stairs to the platform. The moment they took the first step into the open area near the foot of the mountain, the group suddenly heard their Bluelinks starting to ring, indicating that they had received a notification.
“What is this now?” They all looked at each other, instantly realizing what just happened.
“A new notification?”
“I’m feeling off…”
“Every time this happens, it’s always a headache.”
Slowly, Arthur pulled his device out and unlocked it. The first thing he saw was…
[A new icon has been added to your main menu.]
“A new icon?” He muttered as he scrolled to the left till he finally found the icon. Looking at it, the logo it had was that of two swords clashing against one another. The name of the icon was simple ‘Duel’.
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“Duel? Wait…”
“This is not what I expected…”
“Is this some kind of new test?”
Arthur stared up at his friends and then at Isla who was next to him. “Duels… Isla…”
The girl stared at it before she nodded her head. “It is most likely what you’re thinking of. This is unexpected.”
Arthur’s eyes shifted to the rest of the platform where all the students stopped to check the new notification. Many were quite confused as they should be.
‘They really hit us with this out of nowhere, no announcement at all. I wonder what they’re planning.’ He mused.
So, Arthur decided to just check the app for himself. Opening it, the first thing he saw was an aesthetically pleasing menu. There was a section called ‘Duel’ and another section called ‘Rankings’.
In the middle of the screen was a large button with two swords clashing and the word ‘Battle’! written in blue.
“It is indeed a duel app… Just like those mobile games,” Arthur muttered. ‘Thes bastards… What are they planning?’
“Let’s move. This place is going to get filled up soon. We can think when we reach our classes.” Isla said as she tapped Arthur’s shoulder.
“This is about to get rather exciting.” Herculia smiled as he walked after the duo. “I’m feeling it, we are going to have a lot of fun with this.”
With that, the group slowly passed through the masses of students. Hearing their discussions, most were slowly figuring it out. It was very clear that this duel app was for the students to fight each other and the rankings were related to that.
The fact the academy added that feature at the start of the third week is proof that they were deliberately waiting for everyone to grow very comfortable with each other and start creating friendships and relationships. This duel app was going to put all of that to the test.
People were naturally greedy and if Arthur’s suspicion was right, then this app was about to change the dynamic of the entire student base completely.
Before, fights were prohibited on the academy grounds. Now, there was a way to settle disputes with duels and the battle was under the legal eye of the academy.
‘They’re going to make us battle it out… Just like a Colosseum of sorts.’
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3