BXBX NOVEL Chapter 148: Announcement
Name: Cedric Stormrider
Age: 21
Race: Human II
Classes: Luminous Sage (Main), Demon Slayer (2nd), Alchemist 50/100 (Sub)
Level: Tier 3 - Lv.9
Titles: Son of Heaven, Master Smith (+4)...
System Authority: Lv.8
Companion Beast: Aurelion (Radiant Sunlion) T1 Lv.3
Aptitude:
Body: EX!
Energy: EX!
Spirit: EX!
Final rating: EX+
Skills:
Actives: Sword Intent Lv.99, Kickboxing (M), Iron Skin (M), Multi-Stab (M), Air-Hop (M), Lightspeed Lv.75, Dispel (M)
Passives: Elementary Sage Physique (U), Sage's Perception (U), Education Lv.120, Demon Lore (M), Slayer's Mark Lv.25, Sage Arts Lv.90, Marksmanship (M).
Sub-Class Skills: Focus (M), Decode (M), Symbol Mastery (M), Crafting (M), Metallurgy (M), Smith's Blessing (M), Repair (M), Essence Distillation Lv.50, Vitality Infusion Lv.50
[Mandatory Task:]
: Hell Dive - Survive the Endless Undead Horde for 5 hours twice.
: Rewards - 100% Demon Soul gain, Clearance Streak +1
: Punishment for Failure - Failure Streak +1.
: Record: Clear Streak - 16, Failure Streak - 0
**
Two months have passed since the fiasco with Alexis. Long story short, the poor guy has never been seen again after meeting with the Head of the Medical Department.
Cedric doesn't know what happened to him, he doesn't care either. With Alexis being gone, the Sword Path Dojo was once again peaceful so it was a good riddance.
His Sword Intent was a level short of being maxed thanks to his diligent training. The closer he gets to the Sword Heart Realm, the more anxious he feels. However, he made sure to tamper that feeling down. It wouldn't do him any good to be anxious, the best he could do is to continue his diligent effort.
Aside from his Sword Intent, Cedric hasn't neglected the rest of his skill set. Just like the Sword Intent, his Sage Arts are also nearly maxed. He's only ever limited to his current Tier and level, that's why his progress was so low. At least it wasn't like the Lightspeed skill which had gone completely still.
His Alchemy levels are also progressing well. He actually already improved some of the formulas that he got online, making better versions of their products. He had been grinding his production skills to make sure that he could get stable results every time. It's still a work in progress though but at least there is progress.
As for Aurelion, the cub's now the size of an old house cat. Its coat had grown out and they're slightly thicker around his neck, which shows signs of him growing a mane.
The little guy's boisterous though, talkative too. No, Aurelion couldn't speak human language nor could communicate mentally with it, but Cedric could understand him just fine so there's no worries there.
Just by existing, Aurelion had grown to Tier 1 Lv.3, perks of having an absurd potential it seems. He did nothing but eat, nap, play, and sleep, all day long yet he's already stronger than mortal men...the comparisons are truly vexing.
Luckily he's cute...
Currently, Cedric was doing his morning exercise when all of a sudden, he received an alert from his System. It was a general message sent to the freshman students coming from Instructor Orion himself.
A serious expression appeared on his face because he knew that this was important. He sat on the ground and opened the message to read it.
**
To: Freshmen Students
From: Instructor Orion
: Good day, Freshmen. I have an important announcement that you all should hear in person. Please arrive at the Central Plaza at 4:00 pm in the afternoon for this meeting. If this conflicts with your academic schedule, please know that you'll be excused. Just inform your Instructors ahead of time.
: Ps. You are obligated to attend this meeting. The Academy will not accept any less than a life-threatening event to excuse you for not being present at this meeting. Should you fail to comply, you will be punished accordingly. That's all.
**
Cedric couldn't help it. He raised a brow after reading the e-mail.
"Was the threat really necessary...?" Cedric blanked out for a bit then smiled wryly, "Eh, well...maybe. What's this announcement going to be anyway?"
He asked this but he already knows that he's not going to have any answers soon. He could only wait until they met with Orion.
Cedric glanced at the clock and saw that it was barely 09:00 am. He still has a few hours left for himself. Thankfully, it is Sunday today so he had no class.
He originally planned on going to the Sword Tempering Cave today but he decided to drop the idea just for today.
Cedric had been training nonstop for two months straight now. At first, it's because he had nothing better to do without Chrissy and Erica there to accompany him. It's not like he's close to anybody else aside from those two and, by extension, their team as well.
Now, it's still mostly the reason. But there's also the hidden anxiety in his heart because their team has yet to return even after two months.
The girls told him that they were fine. It's just that their mission has become complicated, and that's why they can't come home just yet. Of course, they can't tell him the specifics of their mission because they weren't allowed to. For Cedric however, it's good enough to know that the two of them were still alive. That's all that matters to him.
Still, he's feeling a bit lonely since they weren't here. He didn't like it but he also doesn't feel like socializing so he attuned his focus into training instead. It wasn't as bad as it seems. He's used to loneliness anyway.
Since he had decided to rest for the day, he went for a filling meal and a warm shower after his exercise. Then, he slept until two in the afternoon. Once he woke up, he ate and showered again, and watched some online streams until 3:30 pm.
He wore his uniform and went towards the Central Plaza by himself. He arrived 10 minutes early which wasn't bad.
Cedric noticed that Orion was already there, his presence was just so muted that the common students couldn't sense him. He's probably waiting until the clock hits 4 or up until every freshman arrives.
All of the freshman students arrived before 4 pm which was nice. Once everyone was there, that's when Orion broke his cover, seemingly appearing right in front of them like a ghost.
"Good afternoon Freshmen. I appreciate that all of you arrived in time, keep it up and we will have no problems."
"Now, without any further ado, let's get on with the reason why I called all of you here. Do listen carefully, and take notes if you want to or don't, I don't care. I won't be explaining twice so if you missed something and happened to mess up, I'll hold you accountable for it."
"..."
Some of his batchmates began moving, most likely taking out tools to take notes of whatever they'd be discussing here. As for Cedric, well...he's too lazy to do that so he just recorded the entire meeting using the system.
...what? Orion didn't say it wasn't allowed so why not, right?
"Freshmen, I will need you all to prepare yourselves, because two weeks from now, you'll be going on your first-ever mission as future Scions of Humanity." Orion announced.
There were varying reactions from the students, the majority of them being confused. Cedric was too since this was the first time he heard of this.
"We, at the Starlight Royal Academy, don't just accept students because we want to educate them. If that's the case, then why would we bother setting up all sorts of combat classes and trial grounds for you to use so that you can use them to increase your strength?" Orion started explaining after seeing their reactions.
"In simpler terms, think that this is a Military Academy and all of you are Cadets in training. We are raising you to protect and contribute to Humanity's future."
"More than three months passed since you enrolled here. That's more than enough time for all of you to adjust and enjoy the benefits of being here. Now, it's time for you to make your first contributions, and that starts with a simple excursion to the Eastern Walls and participate in a Patrol Mission."
Cedric caught the tumultuous changes of some students' expressions at the mention of the Eastern Walls. He couldn't blame them, after all, this simply means that they're going to the Frontlines.
"This trip will last for two weeks and you are mandated to participate. And if you're thinking about using legal means to escape this, I'd advise you to re-read the agreement you signed. The only way for you to refrain from participating is by being dead so don't even think about it."
Orion paused to let his words sink into them. Then, he continued:
"More details of the Patrol Mission would be discussed upon our arrival there. For now, I sincerely advise you to make sufficient preparations for this trip because if you're careless, you might just be there."
"That's all I have to say. In two weeks' time, I expect you all to be ready."
And just like that, Orion left the students to their own devices.