Thanks to the new contributor emy black for his level 1 subscription.
POV Kevin
After settling my scores with satisfaction, I wasn't expelled. There was no doubt that Professor Henry and the others must have worked out some scheme so that I wouldn't reveal they had abandoned me. After all, it would tarnish the school's reputation, on top of creating a media uproar nobody needed. At least the group of three idiots must have learned their lesson. They should be good little doggies from now on.
However, the principal still took the time to summon me and insist that this kind of incident must never happen again. But honestly, he could go to hell: I would soon be finishing my last year of high school anyway. And I had to quickly focus on the future.
I had to help my mother pay off that huge debt that had been forced on us, and I had to protect my family. And to do that, I needed to become stronger, and fast.
As I left the principal's office, Arthur was calmly waiting for me, the sunlight reflecting off his glasses.
"You really screwed them over!" he said, slapping me on the shoulder.
"You look really happy."
"I am. It was incredible, and watching them get wrecked—what a pleasure, since I wanted to make them suffer too."
"No kidding."
"But I have to admit I didn't expect you to become so powerful in such a short time."
"Neither did I, I have to admit."
"So, what's the plan?"
"The plan?"
"Don't you want to get revenge on him?" Arthur asked, alluding to the bastard who had put us in debt.
I thought back to the awakened who had come after my mother and me. The scene replayed in my mind: the frustration, the indignation at seeing my family treated that way. And above all, the voice and the words of that arrogant man:
"Your father was a nobody."
A dark glint lit up in my eyes as murderous intent escaped from me.
"You're right. I'm going to show them!"
Arthur held out his fist to me.
"We're going to show them. We move forward together, no matter what."
I smiled and held out my fist too, a sign of our unbreakable friendship.
"You're right, together! So we need a plan to get stronger fast."
"We start by doing rifts together. At least then I can tell your mother you're really with me."
"Oh, she called you to check," I said, amused and embarrassed.
"Good thing your buddy's here," he declared, laughing.
"What would I do without you?"
"You said it."
Then we went to Arthur's place, where we decided to have a little snack. As always, there were little cakes and tea.
His father was, as usual, stretched out in his armchair in front of the TV; his stepmother had gone out.
"I think we should start doing dungeons on our own by signing up with the city guild. Even though we haven't finished high school yet, we're adults, so it shouldn't be a problem. That way, the two of us will be a team. However, we'll have to join other awakened to reach the number of people required to enter the portals."
"True, but either way it's that or nothing."
"No, we could also do them illegally."
"So that's what you did during the month off," Arthur guessed.
"Only once," I admitted.
"Anyway, it's true, we'd also have the portal and its resources all to ourselves, which would let us get stronger fast and earn more money. But if we do it, we'll have to act fast and, if possible, without getting caught. So we need to buy a measuring device so we don't put ourselves in danger by entering rifts too far above our level."
"But after high school, we have to aim higher. In a few months there's an entrance exam for the best awakened academy in France."
"You want to go there?"
"Yes. The best awakened school in the country will be very useful to us for its resources. But above all for its near-monopoly on high-rank portals. The exam will bring together a lot of candidates hoping to get in that way, because usually you need a high level, a recommendation, and above all money, which we don't have. So our only way in is this entrance exam."
"OK, so the exam takes place on September 10. It's a national event broadcast on television and internationally. It's January now, so that gives us 8 months to get stronger as fast as possible."
"Then it's decided."
"Looks like it."
After working out our plan of action in detail, we went our separate ways.
Afterward, as planned, we bought bigger bags to collect more materials, as well as a measuring device. Then we signed up with our city's guild, not without difficulty: since we hadn't finished high school yet and still lived with our parents, they tried to talk us out of it. However, since we were adults, there was nothing they could say. So we then went through the tests to assess our ranks. In fact, I was rank 9 and Arthur was on the verge of rank 8. The machine, however, only measured mana: the dark energy mixed with mine escaped it completely.
And so, on top of high school, we started doing rifts in the evenings after class. So as not to worry my mother, I let her believe I was taking evening classes. Since school ended at 5:30 p.m., that gave me until 9 p.m. to do at least one rift a night and, with a little luck, two. In reality, Arthur and I ventured into rifts together. And it was time for us to head into our very first rift.
The sun had already begun to set, giving way to the soft glow of twilight, and we were standing in front of an imposing rank 9 rift that had strangely formed on the outskirts of the city. It was 7 p.m., and we found ourselves with eight other people, forming a group of ten, knowing that the minimum allowed to enter a rift was five.
Mostly men, in armor, swords at their belts. And one woman with long chestnut hair.
When she saw us, she came straight over:
"Oh, you must be the two new guys."
"Yes, I'm Kevin."
"And I'm Arthur."
"You're very young," she remarked.
"Is there a problem with that?" I asked.
"Not at all. I only finished high school two years ago myself. My name's Rose, by the way."
"That's a very pretty name."
"Thank you."
"So, do you know these men?"
"I know a few of them, but they're more like work colleagues I do raids with."
Since I didn't know much about raids outside of school, and had done very few on top of that, I decided to ask her how things usually went.
"Usually, a team leader is chosen. Most of the members know each other, and the one who usually takes charge is him," Rose answered.
She pointed to a man who was laughing, a little stockier than the others, probably in his thirties. Sure enough, the man soon waved us over, and we quickly made introductions.
"Rookies who haven't even finished high school—what is the guild playing at?" declared the man named Veran, clearly annoyed.
Most of the men seemed to agree with him, shooting us dirty looks, but honestly their opinion didn't matter much to me, so I ignored them.
"I think you're being a bit harsh. At least let them prove their worth. We might be in for some surprises," Rose replied, defending us.
The annoyed man raised his eyebrows condescendingly.
"Surprises? I don't have time to babysit kids playing at being hunters who are still nursing at their mommy's breast. We're experienced awakened, ready to carry out our missions."
"Besides, isn't that the miracle child who was sick his whole life, and now that he's a bit better, he wants to be a hunter?" another added.
It's true that everyone knew my story, or at least thought they did, but they could believe whatever they wanted. Because in reality, if they were all that strong, they wouldn't be in a small city guild. In truth, most of them were mediocre; I could tell at first glance. They were all rank 8 after nearly 10 years of experience, which was terribly bad.
But being adventurers in a small town that needed them, they had gotten too big for their boots and become rather condescending. As a result, I couldn't help retorting with a touch of irony.
"Ah, of course, Mr. Expert. Maybe you should show us all how it's done, since you seem so competent. It'll give us a chance to learn from the best," I replied with a smile.
"Damn it, the kid's making fun of me!"
"Oh, you understand irony. I thought you were an idiot, sorry."
Rose coughed discreetly to ease the growing tension:
"I think everyone has the right to start somewhere. Even you had to learn the basics one day, didn't you?"
"That's true, you're right. I'll even give him a gift and teach him the basics of respect!" Veran replied with a little smile.
He threw his fist straight at my face, but before it could even touch me, a blade was at his throat, stopping his attack.
"What did you think you were doing?" Arthur asked, his eyes sharp.
Veran couldn't hide his surprise. Around us, his men were already forming a circle, and I was watching them out of the corner of my eye.
"All right, let's get things straight," I said. "Apparently, you don't like us because we're rookies. And honestly, you're childish in more ways than one, which is ridiculous."
"We're ridiculous?" one of the men shot back, stepping toward me.
He was the youngest of them all, but his intentions were clear. However, it seemed these men would only understand one thing, and in that case, I was going to give it to them.
In an instant, I was in front of the man, who himself didn't understand how I could have moved so fast. He tried to react, but compared to the hundreds of wolves that had assailed me a while earlier, he was slow. I ignored his completely useless reaction, and my hand grabbed his head before slamming it violently into the ground, which cracked under the impact. He stayed down, dazed.
Veran tried to step in, but Arthur whistled to remind him of his presence, giving him a little wave as well.
"You don't want us, fine. We'll do as we please, and you, for your part, can do the same."
Arthur sheathed his sword, then we entered the rift while the men checked on their friend.
--
The following chapters 20 to 27 are already available on my Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/Lyl_ctr
You can help me financially and have access to numerous advantages and the following chapters for as little as 3€.
Thanks to Cadméa for her level 4 subscription.
Thanks to MM2211 for his level 1 subscription.
Thanks to Mkd_Personne for his level 1 subscription.
Thanks to emy black for her level 4 subscription.