"Attention, cadets!"
Instructor Caroline Gray, the homeroom teacher of class 1-C-8, addressed a crowd of cadets who were standing in orderly lines.
She had chest-length light-brown hair that was curled at the bottom with bangs on the right side, purple eyes, and a slim but well-endowed figure.
Standing in front of the entrance of the forest, Caroline shouted:
"I am aware that both of your classes have been engaged in a dispute for about a week now. As instructors, it is not within our purview to involve ourselves in the affairs of cadets. Therefore, I will not address that issue.
"However, it has been arranged that all Units from both classes will participate in a joint Unit test today. I expect all of you to conduct yourselves in a professional and respectful manner during this session."
Nodding to her fellow Instructor's words, Liz continued the explanation by outlining the rules of this test.
"The rules for this Unit test are as follows: Participants will receive descriptions of four specific mana beasts through their smart bracelets. The first four Units to hunt any of these beasts will be declared four winners.
"Additionally, Units can also hunt other mana beasts they come across. The Unit with the total mana beasts hunted will earn fifth place.
"In short, to win, you either need to hunt the four mana beasts that you'll be provided the description of or kill as many other mana beasts as possible.
"Entering the inner forest is prohibited and hurting other cadets, no matter their class is not allowed. The session will end once the four designated mana beasts are hunted. Got it, cadets?"
""Yes ma'am!""
To Liz's explanation, every cadet present here replied in unison.
"Good luck," said Liz.
"Best of luck," Caroline joined in. "And do not fret if you find yourself in a perilous situation. The AI on your smart bracelet will alert us if that happens and we will rush to your aid. Now, let us commence the test!"
And with that, the two super steel reinforced giant entrance gates of the 5th District forest opened up inward.
Without waiting for even a moment, all the present cadets dashed inside.
No one even had gotten the message describing the four mana beast targets yet, still they all instantly trailed inside to get in the lead.
Not me, of course. I wasn't in a hurry.
I didn't care about this stupid test. Our Unit was assured of being placed in the top 5 winner rankings.
My goal here was just to repair my reputation.
Only after doing that will I be able to gather my pawns and acquire power. In this Academy–
No.
In this world, power is necessary for survival.
Power includes strength, money, and influence. As long as I obtain all three of those factors of power, I'll win this world.
I looked down at the track shoes I was wearing with a frown. Soon an idea popped into my head and I touched my smart bracelet.
Swii—
A soft white light flashed in my hand and an object materialized in my palm—a red-colored quill feather pen.
Without waiting for a second, I pointed the pen at my shoes and an item description box appeared in my vision.
Instantly, I wrote a few words in the 'Edit' box.
Item: Ordinary Running Shoes
Status: Normal
Condition: Well Maintained
Abilities: None
Rank: None
Edit: Enhance my stamina and speed.
As soon as I was done writing, another translucent red screen appeared before me.
[Finalize your Edit for 16 points.
Yes/No
Note: you only have 2 Edit Points left. The Edit will be discarded if finalized.]
Ahh, fuck. I only had 2 points left! I need to do something else. Hmm, maybe I should add a time limit. That oughta decrease the Edit cost.
My hand started moving again, the nib of my red Pen writing in the air.
===
Item: Ordinary Running Shoes
Status: Normal
Condition: Well Maintained
Abilities: None
Rank: None
Edit: Enhance my stamina and speed for 1 hour.
[Finalize your Edit for 8 points.
Yes/No
Note: you only have 2 Edit Points left. The Edit will be discarded if finalized.]
Ah, it worked! But it still wasn't enough…
To make my Edit happen, I kept on trying until I succeeded in decreasing the cost to 2 points.
Item: Ordinary Running Shoes
Status: Normal
Condition: Well Maintained
Abilities: None
Rank: None
Edit: Enhance my stamina and speed for 30 minutes. One-time usable.
[Finalize your Edit for 2 points.
Yes/No]
I quickly clicked on yes and my track shoes were instantly enveloped in a bright white hue.
The Edit was completed. I could feel it. But just to make sure, I opened the status of my track shoes one last time.
Item: Relic Running Shoes
Status: Normal
Condition: One-time usable
Abilities: Enhance the user's stamina and speed for 1 hour.
Rank: Iron
Edit (Activate): Enhance my stamina and speed for 30 minutes. One-time usable.
Since I added an ability to my shoes, they evolved into a relic.
This is the thing I've noticed: The lower the rank of the relic I want to modify, the fewer Edit Points I would have to spend on it.
If I turn an ordinary object into a relic, I would have to pay even less.
For example, if I try to perform Edit on an ordinary object, I would have to pay much fewer Edit Points compared to if I try to do the same on a relic.
This one time, I tried to modify my armor but it showed me that I had to pay 6,00,000 Edit Points. Yeah, it was that expensive.
Well, then again, my armor is a [Divine] ranked relic so it's understandable.
"Lucas, come!"
Suddenly, a loud worried voice shook me out of my thoughts.
I looked up and found the figure of a blue-haired boy standing at the entrance gate.
And by the way he was huffing and puffing, I think he had come back to get me after going into the forest.
"Haaa, I should get going."
