Morning.
It wasn't until the dappled sunlight pierced through the curtains and fell upon his face that Fly groggily stirred from his sleep.
After a full night's rest, the exhaustion that had settled deep into his bones from the previous day's Martial Trials had gradually dissipated.
To allow the freshmen to recover their strength, the school had decided to grant them a day off.
But that made little difference to Fly.
In his eyes, whether the school was on break or not was largely irrelevant.
A school day meant training under the guidance of a teacher. A day off meant training on his own. That was the only difference.
He stretched lazily, went through his simple morning routine, then took out his Beast Totem Card and entered his Inner Realm.
As the golden light swirled around him, Fly once again found himself in that vast, empty space.
Having done this several times now, he no longer felt the same sense of wonder or discomfort as he had initially.
"System, please show me my status panel," Fly said.
ãSystem: Acknowledged, User. Please wait a moment. Retrieving your data panel.ã
The golden light flowed once more, and a virtual screen appeared before his eyes:
ãSystem Panel:ã
ãUser: Fly Anselã
ãBeast Totem: Thunder-Roachã
ãLevel: Mid Stage Twoã
ãSkills / Proficiency:ã
Steelbone Blades (100/100)
Husk Puppet (62/100)
Voltaic Aegis (30/100)
ãTalent: Learning Geniusã
ãEXP: 8/100ã
ãStrength: 112/150ã
ãSpeed: 139/150ã
ãStamina: 96/150ã
ãSpirit: 108/150ã
I've leveled up again!
It seems yesterday's brutal battle earned me a lot of experience.
Actual combat really does provide a faster boost than training alone. No wonder the school encourages duels between students, he thought.
Just as Fly was contemplating his training regimen for the day, a small pop-up window suddenly appeared on the virtual screen.
ãSystem Alert: Genevieve has sent you a friend request!ã
Genevieve? Why would she add me as a friend? Fly wondered.
It was true that on the campus network, student accounts could add each other as friends and chat. With the other party's consent, one could even enter their private training spaceâtheir Inner Realm.
With his handsome features, scholarly demeanor, and immense power, Fly was certainly not short on friend requests from both boys and girls.
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But since enrolling, he had poured all his focus into training and had no desire to waste time on pointless socializing. As a result, he hadn't added a single friend yet.
But this Genevieve...
His mind drifted back to her outstanding performance during the Power Assessment Test, and to the elegant figure who had approached him during the break.
In Fly's view, the powerful were often lonely. To achieve anything great required an immense investment of time and energy. This was true even for those with extraordinary talent. Talent that wasn't honed through hard work was merely potential, and potential was the cheapest thing in the world.
A person as exceptional as Genevieve probably doesn't have time for idle chatter, right?
With that thought, Fly accepted her friend request.
A moment later, another pop-up appeared on the screen.
ãSystem Alert: Your friend, Genevieve, is requesting to enter your Inner Realm.ã
What is this girl up to?
It's the crack of dawn. She's not here to challenge me, is she?
Whatever. If that's the case, I'll just consider it today's training.
He accepted her request to enter his Inner Realm.
In the empty space not far in front of him, streams of golden light began to converge. The flowing light gradually took on the silhouette of a woman.
Genevieve had arrived.
She glanced around for a moment, then spoke with a faint smile. "So this is your Inner Realm, Fly. It's a bit more... empty than I imagined."
Empty?
Ah, right. Although the Inner Realm was a virtual training space created by the school for every student, not everyone was devoted to training. Some students treated it as their own private paradise, a place to conjure up all sorts of virtual objects they couldn't have in the real worldâvillas, swimming pools, luxury cars... a place to indulge their fantasies.
As the local genius girl of Star City, Genevieve's family background was also quite wealthy. While she probably wouldn't waste her time on pure hedonism like some of the other students, her privileged upbringing likely meant she would have decorated her own training space quite lavishly.
But Fly couldn't care less about such things.
He got straight to the point. "I'm sure our genius girl didn't come all this way just to see my Inner Realm, did she? So, what brings the 'big shot' to my humble abode?"
At this, Genevieve's expression turned slightly more serious.
"What, you haven't received the message?"
Message?
"What message?" Fly asked.
Right. Every student at Star City High had a student mailbox, but because he had been receiving so much spam and so many pointless messages, Fly had turned off the notifications.
"The one from... the Student Council," Genevieve lowered her voice slightly, as if afraid a third person might overhear.
"The Student Council?" Fly tilted his head, a playful, almost mocking expression on his face.
The Student Council was, as its name implied, a self-governing organization run by students. The school had originally established it to enrich campus life. However, some students, after joining, would start to think they were a cut above the rest, walking around with stern faces and barking orders, acting like they owned the place.
Back in his previous life, during his university days, the people Fly had disliked the most were from the Student Council.
And seeing Genevieve's cautious demeanor now, he couldn't help but snark internally: It seems the Student Council is just as unpopular no matter which world you're in.
"Mm," Genevieve nodded, a soft sound of affirmation.
"You haven't looked into the Student Council at Star City High before?" she continued. "Every year, after the freshman Power Assessment Test, they always go after the top-ranked new students..."
She paused, a strange look on her face. "Wait a minute, Fly. You haven't even checked your own ranking from the test, have you?"
With the advancement of AI, big data processing had become much faster.
In just one night, Star City High had compiled and released the full rankings for the freshman Power Assessment Test.
Fly, with his outstanding performance, had, without a doubt, taken first place.
Following closely behind him were 'Emperor' Valerius in second and Genevieve in third.
It was also worth noting that Jett's name appeared in the sixth position.
The names of the top one hundred freshmen were all prominently displayed on the school's official website for parents to browse, serving as a form of advertisement for the school itself.
"Ah, I hadn't noticed that," Fly said as he browsed the test results. "But what does this have to do with the Student Council?"
The moment the words left his mouth, however, he understood.
The tallest tree attracts the wind.
His excellent performance had not only secured him the number one spot but had also likely shattered the freshman record for the past several decades at Star City High.
Faced with such an outstanding new student, it was no surprise that the Student Council would want to recruit him.
"Nothing to worry about. I have no interest in working for the Student Council," Fly said dismissively.
In his eyes, this was just another case of his excellence attracting trouble, like with Jett and Valerius. The only difference was that this time, it was a recruitment, not a fight.
"Do you really think it's that simple?" Genevieve frowned, looking at him with a hint of displeasure.
"If it were just an ordinary recruitment, do you think I would have bothered to come find you?" she continued. "They're a bunch of arrogant, self-righteous, and temperamental people. If they try to get you to sign some kind of contract, whatever you do, don't agree to it!"
A contract?
Fly was puzzled.
Why would the Student Council want a freshman to sign a contract?