" The weather is beautiful, the birds are flying. "
" Shut up! "
" You shut up! "
" Come here! "
'…'
At the entrance of a large forest, curses flew through the air as two groups faced each other and people were on the verge of strangling one another. Arlo couldn't help but sigh as he watched.
'We are all human. Why do we hold so much hatred for one another?'
---
A quest has been defined.
Quest Description: Only when people live as brothers can they rule the world.
Quest: Anger people using only words.
Quest Reward: EXP equal to the number of people angered
---
'…'
" Hey bald, we can't see because of the glare coming off your head. Thinking of having your head chopped off or something? If you want I can sell you a cleaver very cheap. "
The bald man "…"
" Or never mind, don't show your head — it's better than seeing the face behind you. If a ghost fought you, the ghost would probably prostrate itself without even trying. What an ugly face. "
The bald man and the man behind him "…"
" If wisdom fell from the sky, these men would hide in their homes from fear, yet they're mouthing off to us here. If you like, I've got head-skills for sale cheap — since it's empty, at least fill it with something so you can bash animals with your head. Though I don't know if you could find an animal dumb enough to clash heads with you, try — maybe you'll find one as stupid as you. "
The Tolkar students "…"
'After all, we're here to protect our school's honor. It doesn't suit us to stay silent. '
System "…"
…
" Brother, you opened our horizons. What we were saying were just childish words, it seems. "
" Yes, especially that last one — the guy over there opened his mouth three times to reply but closed it again because he couldn't find anything to say. "
" I think the fifth thing he said was better… "
A large group gathered excitedly around Arlo and stared at him. What had begun as a back-and-forth of insults between two groups quickly became one person silencing the whole crowd. Arlo's insults were so creative that some students couldn't help but pull out notebooks and take notes.
" Don't say that , we're all part of human society after all. "
" The man over there was crying at the end. "
'…'
" After all, this is training, we must go through experiences to prepare for opposing words. Our future enemies will say all kinds of things to us. But when this event ends, we must be brothers again. "
" Dude, five of them invited you to a fight to the death after the contest. "
'…'
---
Quest completed.
Quest: Anger people using only words.
Quest Reward: 21 EXP
---
Superior Achievement detected.
Bonus reward: Number of rivals who invited you to a deathmatch x2 EXP
Bonus reward: 16 EXP
---
Name: Arlo Klser
Level: 4th-Level Mage Apprentice
Abilities: Fireball (Medium) , Fire Wall (Medium), Line Movement Technique (High)
EXP: 67/150
---
'…'
Arlo didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he looked at the window in front of him.
'It wasn't 5, it was 8.'
…
" Okay, silence. "
A loud voice echoed across the field; under the pressure that fell on them everyone fell silent and looked toward the source of the voice.
Two groups walked side by side toward the crowd. In front of one group stood a tall, muscular middle-aged man; in front of the other was a beautiful red-haired woman. Her red hair reached her waist and, with eyes as blue as the sea that contrasted with fiery red hair and soft facial features that completed that contrast, she was captivating.
Yes, even by this world's standards she was very beautiful.
Yet judging by the collective flinch at her appearance, she didn't seem to be very well-loved despite her beauty.
" Isn't that the flame witch? "
" Don't make eye contact. "
Arlo looked around in surprise; he couldn't understand why people were afraid of such a beautiful woman.
As the people approached, the red-haired woman's group moved to the side near the Koltare school students, and the muscular man's group headed toward the Tolkar school.
When the group arrived the red-haired woman stopped directly in front of the students, looked at them and smiled enchantingly.
" If you lose, I'll burn all of your asses. "
Arlo: 'What?'
He glanced around in shock; what surprised him more was that everyone was genuinely afraid.
'Wasn't this a joke?'
Arlo finally felt he somewhat understood why people feared this woman.
" Okay, listen up I'll announce the rewards. "
The muscular man spoke and the dread that had weighed on the crowd dissipated; Arlo took a deep breath.
" These rewards were prepared jointly by the two schools. So which school the winners are from makes no difference. Now, the prizes:
Persons placed 6 to 10 receive 100 low-grade magic stones,
4th to 5th place receive 125 low-grade magic stones,
3rd receives 125 low-grade magic stones and one Breakthrough Pill,
2nd receives 150 low-grade magic stones and one Breakthrough Pill,
1st receives 150 low-grade magic stones and one Ascension Pill. "
The fear that had eased with the muscular man's words suddenly turned into great excitement when the prizes were announced.
" What? An Ascension Pill? "
" Are they really giving something like that? "
" I heard it increases the chance of becoming a True Mage by 50%. "
" Not only that even if you're tenth you can get 100 magic stones. That's ten times my whole year's savings. "
" The rewards for 2nd and 3rd are also great. The Breakthrough Pill can, as long as you're an apprentice mage, instantly raise you a level in a single move regardless of your current rank. Think how many months or years of effort that saves. "
" But still, it can't even compare to the Ascension Pill. If you work hard enough you can level up as an apprentice mage, but becoming a True Mage requires not only work but talent. "
While all these conversations were happening, Arlo was thinking differently.
'If I come first, can I trade the Ascension Pill for a Breakthrough Pill?'
Others might think he was stupid if they heard that, but for Arlo it made perfect sense. As someone with a system, as long as he accumulated enough EXP he could level up without trouble. Therefore the Ascension Pill was worse for him than candy.
'At least candy tastes good. I doubt the Ascension Pill tastes anything like candy.'
" Okay, now that the prizes are announced, the contest begins. The contest will last three hours, and those not eliminated at the end of three hours will automatically reappear here. Also, once you enter the content it will teleport you randomly, so don't bother trying to form teams. Good luck to you all. "
When the muscular man finished speaking all the students moved and poured into the forest. Arlo ran into the forest without drawing attention, and the second he entered his vision blacked out for a second and he found himself somewhere completely different.
" Wow, technology is very advanced. "
Arlo looked around in amazement. Being in a completely different place in an instant was truly fascinating.
Then he really scanned his surroundings and checked whether he was in danger. He didn't want to be eliminated by getting hit right at the start.
After confirming he was safe he put on the Void Mask and, following the instructions, changed his mask.
The animal he chose was a rabbit.
Yes, a rabbit; he hoped its cute face would give people a sense of security.
After putting on the mask Arlo didn't wait and used the Line Movement Ability to launch forward.
He needed to eliminate 50 people in three hours. So hurrying made sense.
Because with his normal speed it would be difficult to even see 50 people in three hours.
Arlo moved quickly and, when he saw monsters, he fled without hesitation. He had nothing to do with monsters right now.
While quickly moving through the forest he heard the sounds of a fight and headed there at once.
A man from Koltare mage school was standing breathless in front of a monster lying on the ground. He had clearly just killed the monster.
The man was a Level 6 apprentice mage. Normally it might be difficult to defeat him, but now…
Arlo leapt forward and materialized behind the man, sending a fireball to the back of his neck before the man realized what was happening.
Though the man was still drunk on the victory of just having defeated the monster, when he felt the heat behind him he turned his head but all he saw was a rabbit holding a fireball.
The man "…"
Before the man could even understand what had hit his face, he vanished into thin air and Arlo smiled.
" That's one. "
Then without waiting he sprang forward again. While running around he heard two people fighting and rushed over.
There, mages from the two schools were fighting each other. One was throwing ice stalactites at his opponent while the other was hurling fireballs directly at the ice. It looked like a fireworks show in the sky. The ice stalactites kept exploding and ice shards mixed with fire in the air.
'What an artistic fight.'
Arlo focused on the scene for a second but quickly snapped out of it. After scanning the situation he put a fire wall behind the Tolkar school mage who was retreating and shouted:
" Brother, let's attack together. Kill that Tolkar kid! "
Startled for a moment by the heat he felt behind him, the man looked around at the sound, but the distraction cost him dearly.
He couldn't defend against the ice stalactite that came to his face and was wiped out in one move.
The ice-stalactite caster, relieved to have finally beaten his opponent, turned around with a smile.
" Thanks, brother… "
But what he saw was a rabbit holding a fireball.
" Ha! "
Then he too vanished into the air.
Arlo paused there and hesitated for a moment before moving.
" I wonder if the system will count that I put a fire wall behind his back as if I eliminated him? "
---
DIN
---
'What? Is the system going to respond to me?'
---
A quest has been defined.
Quest Description: Love is one of the most sacred feelings no matter the world. Only those who have tasted it can understand it.
Quest: Unite lovers.
Quest Reward: 20 EXP
----------------------
Arlo froze for a moment.
'Is this a mission that matches that description?'
As Arlo was about to ask if the system was broken, the sounds of fighting made it clear it wasn't.
" Ugly witch, get the hell away from me. "
" Fuck off, a man whose only difference from a pig is that he can speak is calling me ugly? "
'…'
" Now that's a love story worthy of a fairy tale. "