"Alright, I think I finished everything I needed to do here." Evan said, after grabbing a few old pieces of clothing from the corpses inside those mines.
Now, with an unshakable air of confidence, Evan finally walked out of that darkness of the caves.
"Come on... let me check what time it is." the boy muttered.
{19:16 - Sunday, January 18th, 2087}
As he checked the time, a completely shocked expression appeared on Evan's face.
"Shit... looks like I took longer than I planned."
...
Just as he was about to pass through the academy gates, the guards responsible for the area stopped Evan, now dressed in nothing but real rags instead of the academy uniform.
"Sir! Identify yourself!" one of the guards said, raising a hand to signal Evan to stop.
Pulling out his golden brooch, Evan handed it to one of them, while showing a translucent screen.
------------------
Last Hope Academy
Student: Evan Thompson
Age: 15
Allocation: First Year – Special Class
School Ranking: 2812/3000
Potential: D
------------------
When they recognized the brooch and the Last Hope Academy identification, the guards immediately apologized to Evan and allowed him to enter.
"Our apologies, Mr. Evan. You may proceed." one of the guards said.
Evan simply took the brooch back and rushed straight to his room on the academy's first floor.
In Last Hope, there were hundreds of dormitories separated by floors. First-year students stayed on the first floor, while the others were placed on the second and third.
When he finally reached his room, Evan sighed in relief.
"Uuhf!... I finally got out of that hell."
At that moment, all Evan wanted was to take a good shower and collapse on his bed.
...
{07:23 - Monday, January 19th, 2087}
"I still have some time left."
Classes would start around 9 AM, but since that day marked the beginning of the school year, there would be an opening ceremony, where the director himself would give a speech to the new students.
It would also be the first time Evan would meet the main cast of the story...
As he carefully combed his long wheat-blond hair, Evan couldn't help but wonder.
"What even happened to the original owner of this body?"
What the old Evan Thompson must've been like. After all, Evan had absolutely no idea who that character was.
Evan theorized that maybe Evan had died during one of the academy incidents... or maybe he simply had no relevance at all to the main plot.
A theory that Evan found strange, since this boy was placed in the Special Class along with the main characters.
"This is seriously strange..." Evan sighed.
"Looks like I'll really have to take on Evan Thompson's identity..."
At that moment, Evan didn't seem to care about his previous identity. He had always hated his life, and growing up completely alone shaped his mind into survival mode, accepting nothing but misfortune along the way.
...
As he walked toward the main hall, Evan couldn't help but hear countless comments around him.
"Hey girl... this year is full of hotties, look over there..."
"Wow!! The young lord of House Silver is seriously a masterpiece!"
"That boy over there alone, the blond one... he's really elegant too."
Those were only a few among hundreds of comments from the girls gathered at the academy.
Having always lived isolated, Evan wasn't used to crowds like that. And somehow, even with his reclusive vibe, he was already causing a stir among the female students.
But the center of attention that year was Erick Silver, Mikael's main rival and antagonist in the early arcs.
At first, Erick placed himself as Mikael's rival. Being a young lord from one of the most powerful families in the empire, Erick always believed he was superior to most people his age... especially compared to a mere commoner like Mikael.
But after all the records the protagonist kept breaking throughout the school years, it eventually pushed Erick to join the demonic side in order to surpass his rival.
"That guy... he's really popular." Evan sighed, staring at the crowd forming around Erick.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, where Evan stood, there was a boy with messy brown hair and emerald-colored eyes, completely isolated from the crowd.
That boy was none other than Mikael, the protagonist of New Era.
In the story, Mikael's beginning was a bit rough, since he was one of the few commoners placed in the same class as the highest imperial elite. He was treated with disgust by most students... and even by some teachers.
As Mikael kept gaining more and more attention through his achievements inside the academy, more people who wanted him dead began to appear.
"It's better if I stay away from those walking flames of trouble for now..." Evan breathed out, finding a more distant spot to watch the ceremony.
In the main hall, there was a massive stage, where the academy teachers were already lined up, standing in place.
Then, an older man slowly walked to the center of the stage.
That man was none other than the academy's director.
Stephan Pyke, one of the ten strongest men in the empire, and one of the only people to break through the barrier of S+ rank.
But from what Evan remembered, Stephan wouldn't play such an impactful role in the story, since he would die early on in order to protect his academy and his precious students.
"Ghrll... this is one hell of an event." Evan thought.
Stephan would be killed by none other than the vice-director, and his own blood brother: Thomas Pyke, the youngest of the family.
Thomas had always grown up in his brother's shadow, known only because of him. That slowly built up an unbearable amount of envy in his heart, leading Thomas to sign a demonic contract with one of the top-tier demons of the first echelon: Leviathan, the Demon of Envy.
After killing his brother and slaughtering hundreds of students, Thomas would only appear again in later arcs, where he would be killed by a more mature version of Mikael.
"So many problems... this is going to be a pain."
As he reflected on the possible future events of the story, Evan paid attention to the beginning of the director's speech.
"Even if he's holding back his aura, just the presence of an SS- ranked warrior is terrifying." Evan sighed.
"Hello, dear students! Welcome, all of you!" the man began, wearing a huge and warm smile.
"I would like to congratulate everyone present here today... this academy is the symbol of the youth and hope of this empire..."
After about an hour of nonstop speaking, Stephan finally ended his speech, while everyone present applauded loudly.
"Now I ask all students to head to your assigned classrooms... thank you very much for listening!" the man concluded.
Looking at the crystal in his forearm, Evan realized it was also possible to access the class schedule, along with the room numbers.
"Ah, damn it... the first class had to be with that guy." Evan muttered, while looking at the schedule.
{Monday}
{Mana Theory – Instructor (Jeffrey Roschede)}