He pulled at his hair, pinched himself multiple times, despite which the screen still floated in front of him.
"Fuck," he pushed himself up from the ground; his quads were trembling.
"This is so cool," he smiled at the variety of screens in front of him.
After he successfully stood on both legs, the screens disappeared, all of them, without even waiting for a second.
'So I had a locked class…and I already have a mana core apparently…' he remembered the panels according to his memories.
'And some decent attributes, hm?' Slowly, he took cautious steps one after the other towards what seemed to be a village in front of him.
'However…' he recalled one major detail: his name hadn't changed.
'I'm still a nobody, extra..who was never mentioned in the novel.' If he remembered correctly, no one in the novel had his name, not even remotely close.
Well, to Sylric, it didn't matter: "I have a system, so who gives a fuck," he shrugged and kept walking, his pace increasing as he started getting used to his body slowly.
Soon, he got so close to the village that people started passing by him, all of them giving him shameful looks and glares.
'This isn't even a major city; why are they so stuck-up in a damn village?' Then he looked down and realised it: his outfit was…lacking.
He had a simple white shirt on and brown trousers; however, both of them were covered in dirt, mud, and holes.
He ignored them and kept walking until he arrived in a street of the village. Despite it being small, it had a storefront street, which actually had lots of people trying to bargain with store owners.
"What an ugly kid," he heard a mutter from the side and instantly turned his head, his gaze sharpening on the man in front of him.
He wasn't even good-looking himself, so Sylric took it personally.
"Hey, old fuck," as soon as he said those words, multiple people stopped around them. "I don't think you are in any place to judge me with that crooked nose of yours." Sylric wasn't the type of person to be trampled on by others to say lightly.
The man instantly covered his nose as some onlookers laughed and pointed at the two of them. It didn't bother Sylric, but it sure did bother the man.
"Insolent brat! How dare you—"
"Insolent?" Sylric took a step forward. He wasn't tall or muscular to be threatening, but his eyes had a depth to them that scared the man.
"How am I insolent when you are the one who insulted me first?"
"What?"
The man and multiple people were surprised by what Sylric had said.
"Seriously? Insulting a poor kid?"
"Why is he coming after a kid?"
"Can't he pick his own fights?"
He became flustered at all the eyes looking at him, including Sylric's.
"Y-you!" He reached for something in his pocket; however, Sylric had an idea.
'I'm fucked if he kills me,'
So he did the best thing he could do: started screaming and pointing.
"How shameless can you be!" He even pointed at the man in front of him. Even more passersby stopped at this point.
"You want to attack a homeless kid!" Sylric's eyes started tearing up. He was taking the act to the next level.
'Hope it works—'
And soon it did, as a man decided to step forward.
He had long black hair tied up in a ponytail. His face was clean-shaven, and his outfit just screamed rich.
He wore a golden-lined black suit with an elegant black tie despite the surrounding dirt. It wasn't dirty at all.
'What are the chances…' Sylric wanted to facepalm. The odds of winning the lottery were probably higher than meeting that man here.
'Did I gain plot armour? He's Vesper..' Sylric recognised the man instantly. He saw character arts of him before, which deemed to be pretty accurate now that he was seeing the man in person.
"Now way..Is that.."
"That's Vesper Blackwood!"
"Vesper? Is that really him?! The famous professor?"
"How is he here in Stonewick?!"
The man who had insulted Sylric was shaking in fear. His entire body as his hand rummaged his pockets.
"How insolent are you to start a fight with a child," Vesper's words carried so much power that the entire street went silent.
'He isn't a top-tier mage for nothing, I guess,' Sylric chuckled as beads of sweat formed on his face and forehead. He knew how powerful the man in front of him truly was.
"Scramble, or you will be punished according to the citadel's law," As soon as Vesper said those words, the man and multiple passersby scrambled away, running off without hesitation.
'The citadel,' It was the Academy of Eldranor; many referred to it as the citadel since it housed many powerful individuals and it was in the middle of the country, making it a meeting point for many powerhouses.
Sylric recalled the details of the novel perfectly for some reason, despite him reading the first chapters years ago.
'Was my memory always this good—'
"Are you okay, child?" Vesper knelt, ignoring his fancy outfit and smiled wholeheartedly at Sylric who was creeping out.
'Right, this guy…' He remembered a detail about him he wished he could forget.
'He had a soft spot for children,' Even in the novel, he was betrayed and tricked multiple times by children due to being so naive.
"I-I have nowhere to go, sir…" So Sylric did what he had to do, and pulled out the puppy-eyed homeless kid strategy.
"Do not worry for a second, child!" Vesper put his hand on his chest, startling some people that were still paying attention to them; however, most of the crowd dispersed by now, thankfully.
"Come with me, I will take care of you!" He reached out to grab his hand like a white knight; Sylric nearly threw up; he just managed to swallow it back in.
'Yuck,' Despite that, he didn't have much of a choice, so he took his hand anyways.
'This is an advantage and an opportunity,' He realised as Vesper dragged him through the crowded streets.