《CATMAN》


 1 CatMan

    The world we knew of has completely changed in these past few decades.


    The era of humanity trying their hardest to search for new discoveries and technologies are over. Right now, it is the Great Magic Era.


    Everybody in this world is born with superpowers and has great potential in using magic except for one percent of the population who were very unlucky if I were to say so.


    I too was unlucky just a year ago. I was weak...I''m currently weak but not as much as before. If I were to summarize my life a year ago in one word then it would be Ordinary.


    A person that cannot use magic power in this era which is dominated by magic power and its users was just a pebble in the road waiting to be kicked. Sooner or later, I knew I was going to suffer hell as well.


    Many with superpowers started bullying me, but I couldn''t refute because I used to believe that it was my fate. Before I was even born, it was my fate to be bullied. But the reason I didn''t refute them wasn''t only because of my belief of fate but because of their dumbness.


    Those dumb idiots were weaker than weak and I knew that they just bullied me and the other ordinary students just to show how powerful they were. But weak as they were, they were still stronger than us with no magic.


    Slowly, bullying had been a daily routine for me. They laughed at me for I was weak and I laughed at them for they were weak as well as dumb. At least in the academy which didn''t require any magic, I was better than them. Heck, I was better than the strong students with superpowers as well.


    But academic qualification didn''t give me superpowers and I was always a step beneath them.


    Everyone said that what one would become in the future is determined at the time of their birth. No one without magic powers can succeed in this world.


    Even in the midst of so many happenings, my feeling of becoming a magic user didn''t waver. I didn''t believe that magic was bestowed only after birth and not after some decades.


    "You know my master gave me some food yesterday and it was super tasty."


    "Oh, your master gave you food? Mine is stingy as ever. He shows me the fish but eats it himself. That bastard, I''ll kill him someday."


    "Kill him? You can''t even touch him. From what I know, your master can use magic. If you were to do something, he''ll just make you suffer."


    "That''s right, I can''t even fight for my rights."


    The street was as crowded as ever. The moon shone on the sky as the street lights fluctuated when he passed through with a hoodie, hiding his head.


    He then looked at the sky with his pearl-like eyes and sighed, "As usual, today is a full moon and I still can''t control this ability."


    Many sounds were ringing inside his ear because of his keen hearing ability.


    "Do you want to go on a date?"


    "No, I don''t want to. If my master finds out, she''ll kick me out of the house."


    The conversation he was hearing almost made him puke. Not because he was single and hearing others ask someone on a date but because of the fact that of whose conversations he was listening were all cats.


    The cats were chatting at the rooftops and while in front of others it was ''Meow Meow'', to Auden it was a real conversation. After getting his ability, his brain was able to decipher what cats were saying. Not only cats, but he was also troubled because of understanding dogs and every animal he stumbled upon.


    Not that he hated it because it would come in handy sometimes talking to animals but hearing them talk about romantic stuff was making him angry.


    This human is still single and you animals are trying to be in a relationship? That was the voice ringing inside his heart.


    With his hands hidden in the pocket of the hoodie, he trod through the street and came across an alleyway when he heard a sharp scream. Suddenly, he halted on his feet and looked at the dark alley.


    Although it was dark, he could see everything because of the night vision he had. In the darkness, his eyes were shining as he glanced upon a tall and stout man who looked like a burglar pinning down a lady in the wall.


    The guy looked like he wasn''t after money but something else. Auden then carefully focused on the guy and sighed,


    "He isn''t a spirit, nor is he a demon. He doesn''t have superpower either. But why is the lady with superpower letting him do all this?"


    He then analyzed the surrounding and upon completion, he muttered to himself.


    "No CCTV or Magic lenses in the surrounding. No superhero whatsoever patrolling the area. Quite a good alley to do something bad but..."


    He then walked towards the man who was heinously licking his lips and said, "How dare you do something like this in my secret hideout!"


    The man was alarmed and looked at Auden who had his head covered. Losing his grip of the lady''s hand, he took out a sharp knife from his pocket and pointed at him.


    "Don''t come any closer or I''ll kill you."


    Trying to kill me with that toy of his? Na?ve, Auden thought. Slowly taking his hands out of his pocket he said,


    "If you''re trying to make this fight of sharpness then I will tell you right now that that kitchen knife of yours will be cut in half."


    "What?" The man asked as if he didn''t believe what the person was saying.


    Slash-


    Ting-


    The blade of the knife which got cut in half in an instant fell to the ground as the man looked at Auden in surprise. How did he do that?


    The man then glanced upon the opponent''s hand and wasn''t confused anymore. The hand of his opponent were more like paws of a kitten but the nails it had in it weren''t something to laugh at. How sharp were they to just cut the knife in half in an instant?


    He then subconsciously took a step back. This wasn''t how it was supposed to go. I had stalked the lady day in and day out just for this opportunistic day and it was just shattered by his claws. He couldn''t believe it.


    He then used his half knife and put it in front of the lady''s neck. The lady didn''t scream though because she was unconscious.


    "Stay back or she''s dead."


    Sigh~


    There are no medicines for fools and it seemed that this man was fool of even upper level. In a breathtaking speed, he just cut the man''s hand holding the knife as the blood dripping off it.


    Ting~


    The knife in the man''s hand fell down and the man now had nothing for himself to defend with. Auden then took his other hand out of his pocket.


    Wooosh~


    Sharp nails appeared in his other claw as he cracked his cat fingers. The man let go of the lady as he gulped his dry saliva and asked looking at the face which looked like a domestic cat,


    "Who are you?"


    "CM" Auden answered.


    "Chief minister?" The man said immediately.


    "Can''t you tell from my look?" Auden shouted angrily, "Its CatMan!"


    "But it doesn''t matter right now..." He said as he pointed his claws at the man.


    [Skill: Indiscriminate Claws (Activated)]


    Slash-


    Slash-


    Slash-


    Hundred of slashes rained down upon the man as he bled and fall in the ground unconscious. Auden the retracted his nails and looked at the man''s bloody figure.


    "I haven''t cut any of his vitals so he''ll be alright if he goes to the hospital within a week." He said in a low voice, "But surely this skill is good. I''ll unlock other skills after I save up enough points."


    Just as he was mumbling, A screen appeared in front of him which was floating in the air.


    [Daily Quest: Perform one heroic act has been completed. (1/1).


    20 CP and a Mystery Box has been awarded to the host. The host can claim the award from the mailbox.]


    #CP=CAT POINTS

 2 The System

    Have you ever believed that if a spider bites you then you''d become a spiderman?


    I didn''t believe it either. In today''s era, everything was possible via magic but turning into some animal man after the animal bites you...it was utter nonsense, or so I had believed until that day.


    It was the same as any other day when I came back home and headed to the playground, not to play but to enter my secret hideout 27. You may call it childish but it was pretty handy for me to escape from the clutches of bullies.


    The playground was actually where construction used to run before but was stopped because of some unforeseen events and the large pipes in the ground was where laid my secret hideout.


    It was like any other day except for the fact that there was a cat inside the pipe. It was black in color and its fur was soaked in water. With its vicious eyes, it glanced at me as it took a defensive position.


    I was alarmed but not too much. I mean who was too dumb to be afraid of the cats and if it was on its guard then all I needed to do was make it feel secure.


    I slowly stretched out my hands in order to ruffle the wet cat but it didn''t turn out as I had initially expected. It wasn''t friendly in the least and what I got was a big bite mark in my hand.


    Blood oozed out of my hand like a fountain and the cat seemed to like it was smiling heinously. It licked my blood which was spilled in the floor and looked at me as if I was its a food source.


    At that moment looking at its eyes, I felt fear. I at that moment realized how scary the cat could be but I was helpless. In a hurry, I got out of the pipe and ran for my life. But I wasn''t as fast as the cat behind me which was after my life.


    Like a prey, I was trampled upon by the vicious cat which looked like an ordinary domestic animal...But I knew that with that strength, it was everything out of ordinary. Despite its a small size I,t was pretty strong and its demeanor was that of a devil.


    "Demonic beast?" That was the conclusion I came up with when the cat was ready to bite my neck off.


    It was at that moment, a certain thought flashed across my mind. A worthless boy like me can never become a superhero neither a wizard. Was my dream but a joke all along? I thought.


    My body was about to give up but my heart wasn''t ready to believe that what I''ve dreamed of till then was all but a foolish dream. Superheroes and Wizards were supposed to fight many demons to keep humanity safe... but I wasn''t a wizard, nor was I a superhero born with superpowers.


    I was just an ordinary boy born with no affinity with magic whatsoever. I was a boy who chased after the foolish dream of becoming someone who is able to use magic. That was what I believed.


    But that wasn''t an answer. Born a superhero or not, born with magic affinity or not, it didn''t matter in the least. What mattered was the dedication I had if I wanted to achieve a foolish dream of mine.


    What I realized at that moment was if I wanted to continue chasing after the foolish dream of mine then I must survive through that ordeal. The demons superheroes fought were much stronger and fierce than this car before me, so if I couldn''t even defeat this domestic looking cat then it would only prove my title of...


    SORE LOSER!!!


    In despair, I moved my hands in search of something I could hold on to in the ground and the luck hadn''t betrayed me. I grabbed a stone and threw it at my back which of course the cat dodged...but it also loosened the strength it had kept to restraint me down.


    I used my hands to crawl forward gasping for my breath and searched for something I could use to defend myself. It was a construction site of the past after all and there was every kind of item I could use in order to fend off the cat.


    I picked up a metal pipe that looked like a pipe that was mostly used in taps and looked back only to see it disappear.


    I turned my head back and forth but there was no sign of the cat, but I could still see it''s shadow.


    "Where is it?"


    Just as I was scanning the surrounding a chill ran through my spine making my blood run cold. Was it because of the strength gap or my disparity of death, I couldn''t move at all? I could see the shadow of death upon me but I couldn''t lift a single leg to avoid it.


    It was right above my head and was looking down upon me as if I was just an insect. I couldn''t move my legs and my arms which had the pipe in hand wasn''t even listening to me. It just kept shuddering.


    ''Is this what fear of death is?'' I questioned to myself.


    The cat bit off my right shoulder and chewed upon it...but all I could do was watch it do it. Was this how I was going to die at the end? I thought.


    No, there was still hope. If only I could run as fast as I could and let one of the superheroes know that there was a demon beast then I could survive and I would even be praised for my bravery for holding out for so long.


    But it wasn''t what I wanted. If I wanted to move a step forward then it had to be me who killed the demon. But how...? It was the only question eating my mind back then.


    Without any plan in mind, I rushed to wherever my feet took me. It was alarmed by my sudden movement and without any hesitation, it bit my neck. I wavered for a bit but I still controlled my feet and ran as fast as I could.


    It didn''t matter where... just someplace that would help me get the cat off me was fine. But not everything worked as one would expect it to work. It''s teeth sunk even deep making me feel that I was about to die any moment.


    It was then I saw something that brought a cheerful smile upon my face. With its teeth sunk deep within my neck, I knew I was going to die in but a minute or two because of not being able to breathe. My windpipes were already ruptured.


    But what made me smile was the thought that even if I were to die, I would take the monster along in the grave. From what I knew, cat hated water and in front of my blurred vision was a bridge.


    Without any thoughts, I jumped into the river and it was also at that moment the cat had realized what I was up to. It took back it''s jaw from my neck and was about to use me as a springboard to jump in the bridge again but it was stopped by my hand which had grabbed its leg and was pulling down in the water which was like a hell for the cat.


    Seeing it struggle to even swim, I was satisfied and also with a smile I sunk below that water slowly closing my eyes. What I regretted in life was not being able to live my dream but it was fine since I was able to at least take the life of one demon beast.


    That was when I had a change of heart. I wanted to live.


    If I were to die what would happen to my family? They would be more than heartbroken if they were to find that their only son was dead.


    The smile that suffused my face disappeared with that single thought. I wanted to live. Even when I knew everything was but a waste...I wanted to live. Even in the despair of losing my life...I wanted to live.


    The parents that gave me all they had just to raise me...was this how I was going to pay their love? Dying was not an excuse, not when I gave my life to kill a cat demon beast.


    With every energy in my body, I tried to swim but as I had guessed, it was all for not.


    The wounds that were exposed to the water didn''t even hurt much then the pain of dying leaving the parents that loved me just to weep.


    But nothing I did change anything... nothing at all. Slowly my hands lost energy to even flap any more and darkness was slowly enveloping my mind. It was when I heard something inside my mind.


    [Asura has been killed. The host has been bitten. Every condition has been fulfilled. Does the host want to become a CatMan?]


    [If the host agrees to become a CatMan and accepts the system then he could just affirm inside his mind and everything will be handled by the system.]


    It didn''t matter what he was listening and he had no time to be surprised either. He had only one question in his mind.


    ''Can I live?''


    The female voice replied immediately.


    [Affirmative. If the host were to agree to become a CatMan then he would be able to live. If the darkness envelopes all the consciousness of the host then even the system wouldn''t be able to save the host.]


    He didn''t even hear after the word ''Affirmative''. If he could live then why was he going to refuse? He immediately replied inside his mind.


    ''I agree.''

 3 Ordeal Of Full Moon

    Looking at the body of the man all bloodied, Auden gulped his saliva.


    After he had become CatMan, there were two things that made him drool. One was the fish that cat loved to eat and another was the blood; human blood.


    Maybe because his being CatMan and receiving the system was related to that demon cat so he also had a liking to the blood but he wasn''t so sure. Wiping away the drool from his lips, he took out a red marble-like thing from his pocket and crushed it with his palms.


    Red smokes came out from the marble and slowly rose up to high air and dispersed making whoever saw the red smoke know the location of the alley. It was usually used for giving out one''s location to superhero patrolling the area so that they would come and offer some help.


    He had also used it for the same purpose. After the superhero finds the body then he would get it to hospital and as well as help that unconscious lady. He didn''t want to reveal himself because of what power he had was unheard of.


    There was no such thing as some animal man in this world and even if one had the ability to copy them, they couldn''t take their form. Even after fusing with a summons from another world, it wouldn''t make them completely monster like and fusion was very different and difficult in its own way.


    If someone were to see him then he would be asked many questions of which he himself didn''t know any answers. He then with that in mind walked passed the unconscious lady and opened the cover of what seemed like a manhole. Entering the hole, he again put back the cover and sat on the ground.


    It was actually a tunnel that interconnected all the underground pathways. He had stumbled upon it when he was running away from bullies and now it came in use for other reasons as well; Like hiding himself in the tunnel while the full moon was still up.


    Every full moon he would be unable to control this ability of his. His mind would go blank and he would be in a state where he didn''t know what he did. The first time it had happened was when he was peacefully sleeping in his room and his parents were out on a dinner.


    Out of nowhere, he lost control of his body and his mind went blank as the cat form automatically maintained over his body. The last thing he knew before going in an unconscious state was, he had just gone to bed.


    But after waking up lying on the floor instead of bed he was previously sleeping at, he found out everything that had happened. His memory of the incident was vague but seeing those claw marks in the wall, even he could guess what had happened. Because of that incident, he had to cover all of his room''s wall with newspaper so as to not let his parents know about it.


    The thought he had on his mind was what if his parents were present when this incident had happened? He couldn''t even think of such a possibility. Since that day, he had become weary of this ability of his.


    He today had also come here because of this ability after lying to his parents that he was going to study in his friend''s house and will be sleeping there for the night.


    The tunnel he was in was also covered in many scars of his claws. Sitting by himself there, he was bored to the bone. He then asked to the system,


    "When will I be able to use magic?"


    Ring~


    The articulate female voice replied immediately.


    [Host''s body isn''t suitable for using magic. If the host wants to use magic then the system would have to modify the body of the host and with the current level of the host, he would die if his body is modified for the purpose of using magic. After reaching a certain level, the system will automatically notify the host if the modifications are possible.]


    Auden sighed hearing this. No matter what, he was always going to get the same answer. He then said,


    "Status"


    Ring~


    Name: Auden Frost(CatMan)


    Race: Human


    Level:3


    Title: None


    *Not evolved.


    Required for evolution (320/5000) CP.


    __


    Skills


    -Indiscriminate Claws(Passive)


    ___


    Attributes


    Strength: 11


    Agility: 25


    Intelligence: 51


    Sense: 21


    Luck: 11


    ___


    Innate skill (Cat Form)


    -Keen senses(Passive)


    -Night Vision (Passive)


    *Requires higher level to unlock


    *Requires higher level to unlock


    *Requires higher level to unlock


    From what he had discovered, the CP required for evolution wasn''t the CP he had but the amount of CP he had collected till now. Since 200 CP was used in buying Indiscriminate Claws from the cat shop of the system, he currently only had 120 points which he was saving for buying another skill.


    When the full moon reached its peak, his eyes turned red and his mind went blank.


    ***


    When he woke up, there were many new scars on the tunnel and he didn''t even know how he was able to give the scars so deep.


    Even when he would use the claws with all his power, he wouldn''t have been able to leave scars this deep and only at full moon when his body didn''t know anything, he would create such scars.


    As always in the morning when he woke up after the night of the full moon, he was greeted with the ring.


    [Survived through Ordeal of the full moon. The host has received 10 CP which can be claimed through the mailbox.]


    He didn''t know what would happen at the night of full moon but when he would wake up, he would find himself getting awarded with 10 CP which was literally free for him who didn''t do anything.


    He then stood up from the tunnel and stretched his body which had become sore. Since it was morning already, he had the school to attend to, so he had to first go to his house for some breakfast.


    How did he know that it was morning already? Well, the screen floating in the air also showed the time which displayed 6:00 a.m.

 4 Fret Academy

    After the ordeal, he had again become a human male who was but seventeen years old. The bodies of the female and the man weren''t there when he came out and concluded that a superhero saved them.


    His blue crystal-like eyes were shining as ever when he got ready for his school after breakfast.


    Packing the books he needed, he then walked to the school after chatting for some time with his parents.


    The school he was studying in was actually a school that was dominated by magic. It was obvious given the fact that the population of the world was dominated by the magic-user which was 99% but there were still schools for the people who didn''t have any affinity with magic.


    He didn''t want to attend such school even after being counseled many times because deep down he knew that if he attended the non-magic school, it was all over.


    His dream of someday using magic would be cut off by the knowledge of human books before the Great Magic Era and there were no such interesting things in Maths and others if compared to Magic.


    The students who were studying on the non-magic schools and colleges were actually groomed to work under superheroes and other wizards as butlers or maids which was what he didn''t like in the least. He didn''t want to work under someone in this life of his because of one reason...


    "Hey, Auden!"


    A female voice rung from behind when he reached the school''s front gate. It was Remi. She was one of the students who were able to use magic but wasn''t too proficient with it and because of that ended in Class D as well.


    "H-Hi" He hesitantly answered as if taken by surprise.


    "Hahaha, were you talking to school gate as if some idiot as always?" She said as she shot a glance at the door.


    Although she could use magic, even if she wasn''t proficient, she had every right to act arrogant in front of a guy without any magic but she wasn''t like that. Because of that, she was admired by every student of Class D who didn''t have any magical abilities and saw her as some goddess.


    She was a nice person like Veneesa who even though having ice-related abilities had a warm heart. And Vaneesa was from Class A, one of the Royals.


    The hierarchy inside the school was maintained strictly and was like an iron rule. If students tried anything funny regarding the system then it was an obvious fact that they were going to be expelled, but the matter that concerned the student was how...?


    The hierarchy and status were the same in every school even if it was the top school. But what was different was that the status and how powerful the school really was to groom talent.


    The school widely famous and had a good reputation would surely be something that low-class schools couldn''t compare to. A student of A class in low-class school might even end up in the D class of high-class school because of their talent.


    If one was to consider why then the answer for it was simple...a gold for a poor would be it''s lifetime riches but in front of a rich business tycoon it would be nothing but another stone in the pile.


    Students were categorized and placed in class after determining their affinity with magic. The more aptitude they showed, the higher the class and the more facilities they earned to strengthen themselves.


    The hierarchy went like this;


    Class D: Garbage/Trash/Loser(...Whatever)


    Class C: Talents


    Class B: Perfects


    Class A: Royals


    The Royals got the better resources to hone themselves where Garbage got worst or simply nothing. If one was in Class D because of their uselessness then it was almost impossible for them to change classes.


    Here weak would become weaker and strong would become stronger unless some weak had some heaven-defying fate.


    Auden was weak but now that he had the system, he could try changing classes even if he wasn''t able to sense any magical energy present in the surrounding.


    "N-No, it''s not what you think!"


    "Then why do you always mumble in front of the school gate for hours?" She asked.


    "Don''t know, habit, I guess," Auden replied and entered through the gate.


    Fret Academy wasn''t that great in terms of teaching magic but in this area of the district, it was the best one could hope to enter.


    Auden right after entering the gate bumped into someone. It was someone he didn''t want to meet one bit. His name was Jack, one of the lackeys of Norr who was the gang leader of the bullies of Class C.


    "Sorry," Auden immediately apologized.


    "Sorry? What do you take me for, you trash?" Jack grabbed him by his collar and said.


    "What happened, brother, Jack?"


    "Did this trash do something to you?" Two more students dressed in black joined Jack.


    Auden immediately realized that it wasn''t by coincidence that he bumped into Jack after entering the gate when he saw the other two lackeys. They were just waiting for him to enter.


    The dress the students wore symbolized their position in the school. Black meant they were Talents, Red meant they were Perfects and Purple meant they were Royals. The teacher wore gray or green representing their status in which gray was upper class and green was lower.


    The students wearing black behind Jack were Hul and Ray, who would always chase weak students and beat them unconscious. Auden wasn''t weak but they still had Norr backing them who was the star of the class and was arrogant as hell.


    Realizing that it was all set up, Auden didn''t refute but said again, "I''m sorry for bumping into you."


    "Trash!" Jack threw him to the ground and said, "If you want to apologize for bumping into me then what you have to do is kneel."


    Kneel? Auden wasn''t shocked in the least but Remi who watched the scene was. He would have to kneel just for bumping into that guy. She couldn''t just let it slide seeing that it was unfair.


    She then walked towards Jack who had an evil smile on his face, Auden who saw Remi marching towards Jack thought stopped her.


    "Stop Remi."


    Her glance fell upon Auden as she asked, "Why? Isn''t it unfair?"


    "Unfair though it is but such is the fate of the weak. You don''t have to get involved in my problems. Just go to the class and I''ll follow you from behind." Auden said.


    "But..."


    "Just go!" Just as Remi was trying to say something Auden interrupted.


    Gritting her teeth, Remi walked inside the school building as she timely shot glance at Auden who sat in the ground.


    "Now that she''s gone, you will be more comfortable while kneeling, won''t you? No matter what happens, you just have to save your face in front of a girl. So now kneel." Jack said.


    Patting the dust off his pants, Auden said, "Actually I never planned on kneeling. You see my knee is scrapped, so I can''t kneel. So, just let go of the matter with another apology."


    "You..." Jack shot a murderous gaze at Auden and said.


    But why would he kneel now when he hadn''t knelt before anyone in his entire life no matter how harsh the situation was. If he were to kneel just for bumping into a talent then where would all the effort of not kneeling till the date go?


    Bam!


    A punch right at the gut by Jack made him again sit at the ground. But he knew that it wasn''t over. Since it was preplanned, he knew that even if he had knelt, he would have been beaten all the same and seeing them cracking their finger just before beating the crap out of him, Auden sighed.


    "Trash, Your parents must also be some trash to not teach their son any manner about how to respect someone superior." Jack said, "Today I''m gonna beat you so hard that it''ll be a lesson even to your parents that they should teach some good manners to their son."


    My parents are trash? Teach something to them? Auden when he heard those phrases changed his mind about getting beaten.


    He may have tolerated himself being beaten but seeing other trash talk his parents who they didn''t even know of made his blood boil.


    Auden returned the murderous gaze and said, "Alright, teach me and my parents how to behave. But not here..."

 5 Duel

    "Hah...not here? Where do you want to get beaten then?" Jack asked as he looked down upon Auden.


    "Um...what about the school arena? Even if you just beat me here, you won''t be getting anything out of it. So, what do you think about the school arena?" Auden said with a grin.


    "School arena? It seems this lowlife wants a duel with you, brother." Hul said as he laughed uncontrollably.


    "Duel? Is this moron crazy or something?" Ray also joined the laughing group. "Brother isn''t the Class C no. 10 for nothing. Brother Jack just beat him here, there''s nothing you can gain even if you beat him in the arena."


    "Yes, what can this idiot even provide you for that duel?" Hul said.


    As Jack was frowning about what to do, Auden said, "Yes, I don''t have anything good one me but if you win this duel, I''ll let you meet my parents since you''ve never seen them and only make fun in their back, and if I win, I want you to not to bully not only me but the entire Class D any further. So, what do you say of this proposition?"


    "What can brother Jack gain from meeting your low-class parents?" Hul snorted.


    "It''s fine." Jack said as he looked at Hul, "If he''s that eager to get beat up then why should I stop him? And to top it up, he''s even going to let me meet his parents, and it is also a good bet since I was wondering how to get in touch with his parents and make them know how to teach their son."


    "I see. It makes sense now. I think it is also a good idea." Ray said.


    "Let''s go!" Jack said as he started walking inside the school building.


    Ring~


    Just as Auden stood up as well, he heard a ring inside his head.


    [Quest has been issued. Defeat the bullies of the Fret Academy in the duel. The reward will be 30 CP and a Mystery box for each bully. And for each blow that landed, the host will be provided with 0.5 CP]


    When Auden heard the system, his mouth was agape.


    So much! It was the only thing running inside his mind. But when he did so many heroic acts using the daily quest, he was only provided with 20 CP and sometimes rarely a Mystery box, but now what had happened?


    "Why so much?" He asked.


    Ring~


    [With the system helping the host and with host''s own effort, it is possible for the host to become Asura: The Golden Lion which would be the emperor of the jungle if compared with other normal lions which are deemed, kings. And an emperor mustn''t be beaten up by some random bullies who are the same as rats.]


    Asura? The Golden Lion? It was the first time he was hearing this from the system. But it seemed that the system was here to help him become Asura. But why act now? He was always beaten and was bullied but why act now? He couldn''t hold the question in his heart any longer and asked,


    "But why now and not before?"


    Ring~


    [System doesn''t get involved with some random street brawl of the host, but however, a duel is a completely different thing. The pride of the host which has the possibility of becoming Asura is on the line so the System doesn''t want to see the host get trampled upon by some insects. So, the system raised the reward by a notch only for this duel.]


    ***


    In the arena where about ten students having a duel with each other, Auden entered after Jack and other lackeys. The arena was heated as ever and it seemed all the rooms were taken by other students so they had to wait for their turn.


    There were actually five rooms with the glass harder than any steel surrounding them. It was transparent so that the audience present and seated in the chairs surrounding them could see it.


    The glass cages were a must for every school for no leakage of any magical attacks outside the arena and not allowing others to interfere with the match.


    Beside Auden and the other three bullies, there were only about five students in their seats enjoying the match. Jack Seeing the match which was about to end in the third room said,


    "It seems you''re going to get beaten very soon."


    "Haha..." Auden only laughed awkwardly and didn''t reply.


    He was also confident about his ability since he had been CatMan for about a year. He was fast and a bit strong but what limited him was his inability to use magic, so he was nervous as well.


    The guy in the third room seemed to be almost done and looked like he was preparing his final attack.


    Brey was all bloodied but for the hope of defeating his opponent, he had to resort to his trump card. He was a fire wizard with no superpowers bestowed upon him from birth but it was fine as level 2 wizards were also strong if they knew how to use their power.


    Kirch, however, seeing Brey''s expression knew that Brey was up to something so he had to be extra careful. He was as well level 2 wizard but he had only learned one basic magic skill so he was at a disadvantage facing Brey.


    Both were looking at each other with focused gazes as if to let no movement pass by. Suddenly, Brey moved his hands and muttered very fast.


    "Oh, goddess of fire bestow your power upon me and let all the evildoers be burned to ashes."


    He was so fast that before it was even two seconds, he had finished his incantations.


    Swoooosh~


    A ball of fire appeared on Brey''s hand which was blazingly wild when one carefully looked. It seemed that he had recently learned the skill because his control over a fire made it look more like an oval than a sphere.


    "Ball of Flame!"


    Incantations were an important aspect of wizards, especially for beginners. It was found that incantations helped a wizard to calm their minds and have good control over the magical energy (aka mana) so that they could easily use the skill. But after reaching a certain level, one could just use the skill without the help of incantations.


    Though the wizards who could use magic without incantations were, in fact, the way of saying how talented they actually were. Even the fame that a wizard who could use magic with the help of incantations was great not to mention wizards who didn''t need incantations.


    Brey then threw the ball of fire which was as big as his torso towards Krich who at alarming speed waved his hand diagonally creating a sharp wind curved like a bow.


    "Wind Blade!"


    Both wind blade and ball of flame collided which actually didn''t result in the explosion but both of them were simultaneously defeated.


    Cutting the ball of flame, the wind blade cut Brey but also the two halves of the ball of flame burned Kirch.


    After both of them fell at the ground, the glass cage rose up and medics present outside the room dragged them out of it for the treatment. Even after so many duels, there was no victor between Brey and Kirch as it was their 101st draw.


    Seeing the medics take the two-out, Jack without wasting any time entered the room and glanced at Auden hinting that he should enter as well.


    Taking a deep breath, Auden entered the arena as well. The glass cage then closed enclosing them inside and a ray of light flashed upon the bodies of the two.


    In a mechanical voice, the speakers at the corners of the arena said.


    "Two students of the Fret Academy have been recognized. Are both Auden and Jack ready for the duel?"


    Jack looked at the speaker at the corner of the arena which also had motion sensors on it and nodded. Auden calmed himself and followed the cause.


    The speaker then said again in a mechanical voice,


    "Then let the duel begin!"

 6 Speed is Everything

    Even after the announcement was made by the speaker, Jack just stood at one of the corners and moved his index finger as if to tell you to go first with a mocking smile.


    "Do your worse rat!" He snorted.


    Maybe because he still had the mentality that Auden was weak so he had said that but Auden wasn''t that strong either, or was he some chivalrous dude to let go of the offer.


    "I see. Then as you wish I''ll go first."


    Woooosh~


    With fast speed, he leaped towards Jack as he rose his foot.


    "If I were to say it more reasonably then I would be a cat, not a rat."


    "What...?" Jack was about to say something but Auden''s feet had already landed on his left cheek.


    ''He''s fast!'' Jack thought as he didn''t even have any time to react to block the incoming attack.


    BAM~


    The glass cage shook a bit when Jack''s body collided with it. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he looked at Auden and said,


    "It seems that you aren''t that weak. I''ve underestimated you. Now I''ll get serious..."


    BAM~


    Without waiting for Jack to recover Auden punched his face and at an incredible speed again kneed him to the gut. Jack couldn''t even believe what was happening.


    The timid and weak Auden was actually beating him in a duel? How can that be? The trash that couldn''t even use magic to beat a talent? It was unheard of.


    With an annoyed look, he glanced at Auden''s eyes as he grabbed the kick which was coming at him and tightened the grip as if trying to break it in one swoop.


    "Those eyes...you shouldn''t have those eyes. Only strong have the right to have eyes such as those."


    Pulling the leg making Auden lose his balance, Jack threw a punch at him. Barely dodging the punch by tilting his head sideways, Auden lifted his another legs and hit the hand of Jack which was grabbing other legs making it loosen the hold.


    Getting out of the grip, Auden jumped back immediately as fast as he could to his previous corner.


    "You''re weak...You''re trash...You don''t have any magic power to back you up but why do you always have those eyes?" Jack shouted in anger, "Those eyes belong to the strong not trashy weak. That look on your eyes always pisses me off...even weak, why do you look at others as if you''re equal?"


    "Why does that eyes of your sparkles every time I look at it, but why doesn''t mine? What''s so special about you? What gives you the right to have such eyes?"


    Saying those words his eyes gave a glint of killing intent as his body started growing large abnormally. The buttons of Jack''s shirt gave up as Jack''s body grew, even more, making him look like some monster.


    "Today I''ll let change that predator eyes of those to ones only prey must possess. I''ll let you witness the true terror of my ability ''Superhuman''."


    ''Tsk... innate ability to grow large. It''s going to be troublesome more than I thought it would be.'' Auden thought as he looked at the gigantified version of Jack.


    But he wasn''t going to give up just because of seeing an innate ability. After all, he would be hitting jackpot if he beat Jack and other bullies. Seeing Jack''s coming towards him, he tried moving his legs to dodge just as he noticed that one of his legs was in pain.


    ''What? How?''


    But it wasn''t the time for that as the punch was coming. He had to bent in an irregular position just to barely dodge the punch... barely enough but he was still little grazed by the knuckle.


    Graze though it was, as weak as Auden''s body currently was, he was still knocked on the ring. But Jack didn''t give him the time to rest either.


    BAM!


    Another punch followed the previous one and again Auden barely dodged it. He stood up but was still unstable. Trying to guess what had happened, he glanced at one of his legs whose ankle had turned blue.


    ''Was this because of that monster''s grab... Damnit!''


    Gritting his teeth, he moved to bear the pain on his ankle but his speed was little diminished as compared to before.


    BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!


    The punches Jack threw continuously targeted Auden while he again and again barely dodged. Even the shockwaves of punches were enough to shake the glass cage. Auden having to dodge it, again and again, was getting exhausted minute by minute as the duel continued.


    Even though he had up to now invested all his attribution points on agility, he still wasn''t fast enough. In a battle, Speed was everything. Speed determined one''s ability to react to the movement and ability to dodge. Speed was a must for a prolong battle but Auden still wasn''t that fast despite spending all the attribute points on agility.


    He knew that sooner or later, he was going to lose if things continued this way and much to his thought, his position aligned with it.


    Suddenly a kick greeted his chest while he was dodging punches as he collided with the glass cage in an unfathomable speed. Coughing a mouthful of blood, he stood up with the support of the glass cage when another punch greeted him, followed by another and another.


    Each punch was like he was being hammered by someone as his body had already given up to the pain and fell in the ring while Jack stood before him with eyes full of hatred.


    "Today I''ll get rid of those eyes once and for all." Jack said as he glared at Auden in his eyes, "You still haven''t given up. Your eyes are still sparkling bright."


    Outside the room, many people have gathered up, not because of the duel between Auden and Jack but because of someone else who had come to watch the duel.


    With that purple dress she was wearing, she looked majestic as ever even when she just sat in the chair looking at the duel. Many students had gathered in just but few minutes knowing that Veneesa had come to the arena.


    Everyone wondered what had she gone there. Was is to fight someone or just watch someone''s battle? They were filled with anticipation as they glanced at the rooms and checked out the possibility of her coming to see someone''s battle.


    ''She mustn''t have come here to watch the battle. Everyone here is a low class with no fighting ability whatsoever, so she must be waiting for someone to spar with. But come to think of it, why haven''t I heard of that...if she was to spar then I should have known it yesterday.''


    Many people only guessed for what reason Veneesa had come to the arena while the match between Auden and Jack was still on the progress.


    Unable to outright move his body Auden just laid at the ground while Jack slowly raised his clenched fist of anger.


    ''Looks like I don''t have any choice.'' Auden thought and tried to move his body to dodge the incoming attack.


    ''I should take the gamble for now...'' As he thought that, he immediately said in his mind.


    ''Claim the reward from daily quest and open the Mystery box.''


    Ring~


    [Affirmation. The reward has been claimed.]


    [Opening the Mystery box.]

 7 Skill:Allure

    My name is Veneesa, a Royal from Class A. Today was also going to be the same usual day for me; I would study magic, take on a mission provided by the school and be out for about two weeks, but it changed when I heard from one of the Class D students that he was going to duel with a student of Class C, and a no.10 no less.


    It wasn''t that they told me directly but I overhead their conversation when I was passing by. In this era, weak didn''t have any say and hierarchy was absolute, so I couldn''t blame them for not approaching me directly to say that since they were considered damaged goods and I was one of the Royals.


    Even though I wouldn''t say anything if they approached me and delivered the news instead of gossiping loudly so that I would hear it, but I guess they still didn''t trust a higher class.


    But since I got the news anyway, I came to the arena to watch the match and to stop it immediately if there were to be any danger to his life.


    He was the one I admired and my crush if I were to say it in a simple way. But even though we were quite friendly when we were children because our parents happened to be friends but now he doesn''t remember me.


    Maybe it was from that accident he had ten years ago which took his memory and everything that engraved his existence in this world from him. I was separated from him for seven years and after I met him again when I enrolled in Fret School, it seemed like I was a complete stranger to him...but he hadn''t changed one bit from his previous self even if he had no memory of it.


    I too couldn''t do anything about it, after all, I wasn''t a God who could make him remember everything from his past and what was funny was that it was because of me that he got into an accident for which I always cursed myself, but no matter what it wasn''t going to change anything. So, I decided to help him from the sidelines.


    It may not make amends for the mistake I made in the past but I don''t want to see him suffer because of my fault.


    My heart skipped a beat when I saw that Class C student about to punch him when he just laid there, so I was ready to move anytime and stop the duel but something unexpected happened which made me think before taking action.


    Auden shouted in his heart, "Open Mystery box."


    [Affirmative. Opening the Mystery box.]


    The Mystery box was a box that would give him things at random. Sometimes it would be useful but sometimes it would give him total crap like one time he got a nail cutter when he was totally expecting some cool item.


    [Mystery box opened. Randomizing the reward.]


    Ring~


    [Skill: Allure obtained.]


    Skill? Auden didn''t know that he could even obtain skill from the Mystery box but it was one good information for him in the future but not now. He barely tilted his body sideways to dodge the punch but it still hit his neck''s little part.


    BAM~


    "Aaaaarrrgg~" He groaned in pain.


    "Yeah, That''s the way brother. Teach him."


    In their seat, Hul and Ray were shouting their lungs out cheering for Jack.


    Veneesa seeing the scene bit her nail.


    Should I go?...but even though he''s in pain, I can see that he hasn''t given up from his facial expression. What should I do? What would he do if he was in my situation?


    "Don''t meddle in someone else''s duel!"


    I know he''ll say that but, is that really fine? As she was drowning on her own thought, Auden stopped groaning and stood with his wobbling feet.


    "Tsk...not admitting defeat even after getting hurt just from a graze? You''re stubborn little sh*t, aren''t you? But you know what is the fate that awaits a nail that sticks out?" Jack said,


    "It''ll only get hammered and be put in its place. Today I''m going to teach you that the hard way."


    ''Describe skill: Allure in a simple way possible and fast.'' Auden said in his mind.


    [Skill: Allure(Lv.1)(Passive)


    -It uses the charm of the host and stuns the enemy for a moment of time. Its effectiveness depends on its level and the charm of the host to captivate someone. Also, the result of its effect may double or even triple in the host''s CatMan form.]


    So, what it does is buy me some time, eh? Its a good skill but...I cannot use my CatMan from here since it would expose the secrets I hold within me. I guess I will have to depend on my manly charm.


    "System, carry out the partial transformation." He spoke as he dodged punch coming at him.


    BAM~


    [Command noted. The system asks host for the part that he wishes to transform and the duration of the host wants to transform temporarily.]


    "Transform my both hands into claws for 0.5 sec after I say ''Now''." Auden muttered, "And the Allure, to how much distance will it affect people by charm?"


    Ring~


    [Command noted. The transformation will be carried out upon the host''s signal and the system wants the host to know that the skill: Allure has no limits binding it. No matter the distance, the people who have a clear vision of the host will be affected by the charm and will be stunned for a moment if their gazes were to be fixated upon the host.]


    ''So, it''s also a double-edged sword.'' Auden thought, ''Not the only enemy, but it will also affect friends as well. But that''s good news as well...if they are stunned for a brief amount of time then they wouldn''t notice my partial transformation of 0.5 seconds.''


    With that idea in his mind, he revealed an evil smile.


    "Let''s end this then."


    "End this? And what''s with that smile? You aren''t thinking that you actually can beat me, are you? Hahahaha, what a funny thing to hear." Jack laughed,


    "It would have ended a long time ago if you weren''t jumping here and there like a monkey. But since you want to end this then you aren''t going to dodge again, are you? Let''s end this, after all, I have to meet your parents after this match and I don''t want to waste too much time meeting your pathetic parents as well. I''ll leave right after I teach then a thing or two."


    Ray and Hul couldn''t hear what Jack and Auden were talking about but seeing Jack winning they felt proud following him. They then cheered for Jack even louder than before.


    "Brother Jack, cripple that idiot."


    "Cripple him!"


    Veneesa shot a glance at the two who were cheering for Jack and again gazed back at the duel without saying anything.


    "Hoho, then let''s finish it," Auden said.


    Jack grinned as his body grew even bulkier than before and started throwing a barrage of punches. Auden only smiles before he leaped towards the punches without any sign of hesitation.


    [Skill: Allure activated.]


    When Jack looked at Auden who was dodging his punches, he was mesmerized by the charm and stopped his hands for a moment. Not only him but the students who were watching him were stunned for a few seconds.


    Auden didn''t let go of the opening that was created by the skill and said as he got even closer to Jack.


    "Now!"


    [Command received. The host''s hands have been partially transformed for 0.5 seconds.]


    "Heh..."


    [Skill: Indiscriminate claws (Activated)]


    Slash- Slash- Slash-


    In the brief moment of 0.5, Auden was able to inflict nine slashes on Jack''s body with his claws before it turned into normal hands again and he scratched Jack with his fingernail.


    "Ouch...ouch...ouch..."


    He immediately stopped the skill as it wasn''t meant for use with human fingernails...if he did that then it was obviously going to hurt a lot.


    Thud-


    Jack''s body hit the floor as Auden climbed on his stomach. When he got out of the spell, he found himself in rather an unfamiliar position from before.


    ''I was going to beat the bastard to a pulp by why am I lying here? What happened?''


    He tried moving his body but when he did that he felt a lot of pain and he couldn''t even lift his body. Slowly his eyes drifted at his stomach and saw Auden sitting atop it and some red liquid flowing out from his body.


    Blood...? Is it my blood?


    He was alarmed but he couldn''t even move. His skin would be thrice as thick after a transformation so how was Auden able to inflict such wounds? Just as he was frowning, his body started shrinking.


    ''Crap, I lost too much blood that my body is shrinking to normal again.''


    Others were shocked too who were watching the match without even blinking. What had happened? Wasn''t bother going to squish that idiot? They too didn''t know what had occurred there and Veneesa was no exception.


    She didn''t know what happened and she didn''t care what had happened. As long as Auden wasn''t in any danger, it was all fine.


    The two followers, however, had a hard time taking it. They couldn''t even believe in their eyes.


    "He must have done something otherwise how could he inflict such deep wound to brother in his superhuman form?"


    "Yes, he must have carried some weapons inside and used it."


    Auden, however, couldn''t hear what they were talking about but even if he could hear, he would pay them any mind.


    Crack- Crack-


    Cracking his fingers, Auden evilly smiled as he watched Jack shrinking.


    "You bastard... what did you do?" Jack said coughing up a mouthful of blood.


    BAM~


    Auden, however, didn''t reply to his question and just punched him in the face which quite satisfied his heart.


    "Now that you''re like this, why don''t you say what you said to me before."


    "You..."


    Slap-


    Before Jack could even speak, Auden slapped Jack in the face. With a smile on his face, all the same, he slapped Jack continuously as he said,


    "Yes, hammer me to my place why don''t you? Aren''t you going to teach my parents a thing or two? Teach them why don''t you?"


    "You bastard I''ll..."


    Slap- Slap- Slap-


    "Still speaking? I''m saying you should put me in my place. Why don''t you change my eyes now? Yes, change my eyes, why don''t you? And about my parents, you won''t waste your time meeting them for long? You should research other backgrounds before spitting trash."


    "Even the big figures that you always look at in the news will have to stand in line and even beg just to get a glimpse of them and you''re belittling my parents?"


    As Auden slapped Jack continuously without any sign of stopping, Jack''s eyes rolled back as he became unconscious.


    The sensor and the speaker then immediately rung.


    "Room three''s battle has been completed. The winner is ''Auden Frost'' of Class D."


    Right after the voice echoed, another voice rung inside his mind.


    [One of the bullies has been beaten. The host has been awarded 55 CP and a Mystery box which can be redeemed from the mailbox. Further damage wouldn''t provide the host with any CP from the bully.]

 8 New Title

    "I ain''t getting anymore CP after he''s unconscious? That''s a bummer." Auden sighed.


    He then stood up and got away from Jack''s torso.


    Ting~


    Just when he got off, something fell from inside of his cloth on the floor. Auden glancing from where the sound came from saw a pendant which he immediately picked up and put it inside his pocket.


    ''It must''ve broken when my neck was grazed by his punch.'' Auden thought, ''For now, I''ll just keep it and will repair it when I go home. Tsk...what a drag.''


    The glass cage lifted up making a loud noise as two other bullies came at the ring as the medics took Jack''s unconscious body outside the ring. Hul then looked toward Auden and said,


    "You bastard, you must''ve cheated against the brother, isn''t it?"


    "Yeah, you must''ve have hidden some weapon which is invisible to naked eyes. You definitely can''t beat brother in one on one." Ray supported the claim.


    Auden didn''t mind any of those things and smiled evilly. Since they were here to give him some free CP then why would he waste their effort? He scanned the area found a familiar figure watching them and seeing her about to approach him, he shook his head and gestured her to the seat where she was and he''ll handle it by himself.


    The others who were guessing why she had come here had their answer.


    "She wasn''t here to battle someone but to watch the match of some lowlife?"


    "I''m disappointed by her."


    The crowd who were filled with anticipation was now disappointed. They didn''t have any interest in low-class matches so many of them started to leave the room while some students of the higher class sat in their seats watching Auden very closely.


    ''The ones leaving right now are just idiots who won''t amount to anything in the future. Did they really think that he cheated and ended it on that?'' One of the men who watched the students leave from the school''s surveillance room thought, ''Even if he had then they must at least be curious about how he cheated since the sensor would scan every part of the body for any hidden weapons.''


    "So, you don''t think he cheated as well, huh?" The person sitting beside the man asked.


    "No, he didn''t. It was either his skill or his superpower he had from birth."He thought, "But even I cannot say what it was because I, myself was stunned for a moment watching the match."


    "Interesting, isn''t it? He used something even we couldn''t see...but what''s more interesting is that he is here in class D like trash." The person replied.


    "If he''s indeed in class D then he might really have been trash before but looking at him beat one of the Talents, I cannot say for sure. Maybe he''s a late bloomer. Let''s check his aptitude after he exits the arena. For now, let''s just watch as the situation unfolds."


    "That''s doable. Why waste a talent if he''s indeed one?" The person replied.


    Auden didn''t want any support from Veneesa. After all, if he received help from outside then he would just be asking to take his wealth away from him. Auden then looked at the two bullies and smirked,


    "Yes, I cheated. But what can you do? Do you idiots even have the guts to reveal my cheating?"


    "You..."


    "If you two morons have the gut then why don''t you fight me yourself and reveal it. After all, for you guys it may be easy...oh sorry, you''re just morons, so how can you reveal how I cheated?"


    "Bastard... Okay, we''ll take you on and even beat you for brother Jack part." Hul said.


    "Yes, let''s go to the ring."


    ''Morons!,'' Auden thought in his heart, ''They just fell for it like that...and even think they''re not morons? Haha, today I''ll hit a big one after a long time.''


    Hul and Ray knew that they were strong but also had their doubts about Auden''s power. They had just seen Auden slapping Jack till his eyes rolled back but still believed that Auden had cheated. If not then how was Class D trash able to beat one of the best students of Class C?


    They wanted to beat this cheater and take the thing he had so that they would grow even powerful. The possession he had and let him cheat mustn''t be any ordinary item, they thought and drooled on the hope of getting it.


    "So, who are you gonna take on first?" Hul asked.


    "Hmmm..." Auden frowned and after a while smiled, "Why don''t you both idiots come and fight me at the same time...it will save you some time, won''t it?"


    Hul and Ray smiled at the response. If the sheep itself was asking for slaughter then why reject the offer? They complied with the offer and entered the ring as the speaker''s voice rung again after scanning if Ray and Hul had any material that wasn''t allowed.


    "Does Auden of Class D really wishes to have a handicapped battle?"


    Although Class D taking two of Class C was exciting news, no one went to the arena anymore for watching the match... not even a student of Class D. Who would want to see their fellow mate being beaten mercilessly? It was their way of viewing the match.


    People would only realize their limits in harsh situations. They too thought that they were equal to others with magic in their past but as time progressed they realized how na?ve they really were to think of it. It was easy for people with magic to heal after the fight but for a non-magic user, they would have to suffer hell before healing after a fight. So, Class D didn''t want to see their own mate being ruthlessly crippled.


    They just gritted their teeth and sat in their class listening to all those voices piercing their ears. They also thought one of their mate beating a Class C was by chance or what they were hearing, which was that he cheated. Even Remi thought that it might have been the case.


    Auden nodded at the speaker as the glass cage slowly moved down sealing the three of them.


    "Then let the handicapped battle of 2 vs. 1 begin."


    Right after the sentence finished, Ray started enchanting the incantation without any delay as Hul hid behind Ray.


    A harpoon like a weapon appeared in front of Ray which was made up of wind and as he continued enchanting, the number grew larger.


    Auden wasn''t going to just watch them finish their preparation. If he knew that he was screwed after they finish their preparation then why would he just let them do it? He leaped towards the duo in alert when seeing Auden coming at him, Ray smiled.


    Hul immediately rested his palms in Ray''s shoulder which confused Auden but it wasn''t long before he had his confusion swept away.


    The wind harpoons grew bigger and seemed sharper than before.


    ''Is that bastard supporting wizard?...No, he must be the one which strengthens other attacks after giving them his power.''


    Realizing that too late, he couldn''t even dodge the attacks. Ray finished his incantation and smirked evilly.


    "Suffer from my wrath, trash."


    "Wind of Doom!"


    Tens of harpoons which were a bug larger than any ordinary harpoon flew towards Auden as he dodged most of them, but some still found their way to his body.


    Five of the harpoons had managed to skewer his body and among them, one had directly pierced through his stomach.


    Hul and Ray were scared out of their wits seeing one of their harpoon damaging Auden fatally. The killing was prohibited and if they were to kill their opponents in the arena then they would have to bear responsibility.


    If it was some magic-user whose stomach they had pierced then they wouldn''t be so scared of opponent dying since magic would have strengthened their vitality and be easily healed but for a nonmagic user, they were too scared...but still they didn''t show it in their faces.


    "Hahaha, that''s what you deserve for making us angry," Hul shouted from the back with his legs trembling to even stand.


    "Die...Hahaha...Die." Ray said.


    Veneesa stood right up and was about to interrupt the match when another hand pushed her back into her seat.


    "Don''t be hasty. He is still moving..."


    "What?" She glanced towards the person who stopped her and said, "Why are you here? Weren''t you suspended for the month?"


    "Yeah...but I was called again and got the message that the suspension is over." The girl said.


    "What''re you up to this time?... Scarlet Witch?" Veneesa said as she squinted her eyes.


    "What does that have to do with you? Just keep on watching the damn match, it is getting even more interesting. And next time you call me by that nickname, your parents won''t find your bone even if they search the entire Earth." Rebecca said.


    "Tsk..." Clicking her tongue, Veneesa again sat on the seat as she couldn''t move if the witch was to interfere. She again shifted her eyes towards the battle which almost seemed over and gritted her teeth in anger.


    Auden, although injured, didn''t fell at the floor but was still standing. The harpoons were still there making pain surge all over his stomach and other pierced areas.


    But still, he slowly walked towards the duo who were too scared to even move and stopped right in front of them.


    "I ...Cough~ Cough~...I have one thing to ask of you." Auden said.


    "W-what? You...you want us to fulfill your last wish? We aren''t friends so forget about it." Ray said as he subconsciously took a step back.


    "It...ain''t that..." Auden said as he lifted his right arm in the air, "Why is the name of your attack ''Wind of Doom''...if it can''t even doom a person like me?"


    "W-What..."


    Before Ray even finished his sentence, a punch greeted his face with a strong force that made his face cave in before making Ray fly and hit the cage of glass.


    BAAAAMMMMMMMMMM~


    The entire cage shook for a moment as Ray''s eyes rolled back with but one punch.


    "If your attack doesn''t even match the name then why give such flashy names to your attack?" Auden said as he coughed a mouthful of blood.


    He then looked at the floor and saw Hul who was shivering as tears flowed down his face.


    "I''m sorry... I''m sorry." Hul cried as he looked at Auden.


    "Did you forgive others when they begged you to? You trampled on them, didn''t you?" Auden said.


    "I''m sorry... I won''t do it again." Hul said.


    "Tsk...I''m not like you guys who hits a person even after they beg. So, I will forgive you." Auden said and turned his body looking at the speaker.


    "T-thank you... then-"


    BAAAMMMMMM~


    After kick hit his face, Hul''s head slammed at the floor as he lost consciousness.


    "Well, I forgave you...but forgiving you won''t end up the match if you don''t surrender. So, blame it on yourself." Auden said as he looked at the unconscious body which made his blood boil but still he controlled himself.


    "If idiots like them are considered Talents then I don''t even want to know where the world is heading..." Auden muttered as he tried to stop bleeding from his stomach.


    After the Ray had lost his consciousness, the wind harpoons had also disappeared resulting in massive blood loss.


    Ring ~


    [Quest has been completed. The host has been awarded 61 CP and two Mystery boxes which can be redeemed from the male section.]


    [Host had obtained a new title "Bully Beater".]


    Just after hearing the ring that he had completed the quest, his lips curled up forming a smile before losing consciousness while standing.


    "I guess I have someone to recommend," Rebecca muttered to herself and left with a smile.


    The glass cage immediately lifted up as the medics rushed inside to aid Auden without caring for the other two since the one who was gravely injured weren''t them but Auden.


    The speaker was silent for sometime before finally announcing the result.


    "The winner of 2 vs 1 handicap battle is ''Auden Frost'' from class D."

 9 Unexpected Visitors

    "Let''s hurry up and take him to the doc. W. This isn''t what we can heal. He''s bleeding internally and his organs are also damaged." One of the medics said.


    "Okay..." Another man said as he lifted Auden in his shoulder.


    The situation was too serious that they didn''t have a single second to waste to even bring a stretcher. If it was too late then Auden was going to die from the blood loss.


    Veneesa stopped one of the medics and asked, "Will he be okay?"


    "That I cannot say..." The medic shook his head, "If he arrives at Doc. W on time then that kid would be saved no matter how near he is to his death but if he dies before even reaching to him then there is no chance. If something can save the kid right now then it would be the only a miracle."


    The man said as he immediately rushed out of the arena and followed the man carrying Auden and lend him a hand.


    "Miracle...?", The word made her remember the thing Auden had said to her one time.


    "Miracle only happens to the one who believes in it. If the person loses all hope then he wouldn''t be able to witness a miracle. Miracle depends on a person''s spirit and determination."


    She was as well worried but she didn''t rush and calmed herself first before following the medics.


    On the other hand, Rebecca sat at the rooftop of the school building and looked at the situation below.


    "Why are they making a big fuss about the situation? I can''t see death above his head today so obviously, he won''t die. They just need to calm their nerves."


    As she said that, she took out her cellphone from her pocket and dialed a number. The call was immediately picked up.


    "What? Just keep it short, I''m busy right now...move your feet dumbasses, if not all of you are going to die...bam...bam...sorry, the new recruits are just annoying. So, what do you want to say?"


    "I want to recommend someone," Rebecca said.


    "Recommend? I see. What rank is he? Perfect or Royal? If he is Talent then don''t even mention it, I''m going crazy having to train them. How can talents be so out of shape, do they even exercise? They are just too weak."


    "Don''t worry, it isn''t a Talent I''m recommending today," Rebecca said.


    "Eh...it isn''t Talent? Then tell me about him more...Just lift up that boulder dumb idiot, or do you want to die...sorry, I was saying that to the new recruit you recommended before. So, what rank is he?" The person said making it sound like he was teasing her.


    "If I were to say in the school''s ranking then he''s simply a...''Trash''!"


    Teet~ Teet~


    "Huh? How dare he hang up on me!"


    She again dialed the number and immediately after it was picked up, she said, "Why did you hang up?"


    "Why? Don''t make me even busier than I already am. Who do you think I am? A babysitter? If it is someone else then let''s talk about it sister, if not then don''t call me ever again. You just recommend and run away...and it has to be me who has to suffer from your deed and train them. Do you even know how hard it is to train these pigs who are fat as hell?"


    "I''m still recommending the Trash," Rebecca said.


    Teet~ Teet~


    "This bastard...how dare he hang up on me not once but twice. I guess I''ll have to teach him some manner about the way to talk to his big sister. But for now, let''s just focus on how to convince that Auden guy to join us."


    ***


    -Two days later


    Inside the room of the school''s personal hospital, Auden suddenly opened his eyelids revealing his blue eyes. Just by glancing at his surrounding he could tell where he was.


    The yellow ceiling and the rock hard bed with a white blanket with a lingering smell of medicine, it was no doubt the school''s hospital.


    And there was him as well, sitting in his rocking chair, staring at me with those almost black eyes as if I was an alien.


    STAAAAAAAAARRREEEE~


    "What are you looking at? Haven''t you seen someone as handsome as me before?" Auden joked looking the doctor.


    "I have but..." The doctor said as he looked Auden in his eyes, "You''re quite unique of a case if I were to say so."


    "...Humm...Do you know for how many hours you were asleep?" Doctor W asked.


    "Hours? Don''t you mean to say two days and six hours?" Auden said.


    "Are you a time god or something? How can you know the time even while you were unconscious and on the verge of death?" Doctor asked.


    "Heh...Just a guess."


    Although he said that, he knew the period of him being unconscious was because right after opening his eyes, he saw a new message on the floating screen from the system.


    [During the recovering duration of host for two days, six hours, twenty-three minutes and forty-one seconds, the system has successfully upgraded. New features have been added to the system. Cat store has also been updated with new items and the ''human store'' has also been added to the system considering the human form of the host. The host can also check the details about the upgrades from the mail.]


    He didn''t know that the system could be upgraded as well and was eager to know what the new features that were added in the system.


    "You guessed right on the spot but tell me something..." The doctor asked with a curious demeanor, "How did you heal so fast?"


    "What do you mean?" Auden asked.


    "Hmmm..." The doctor carefully glanced up and down on Auden lying in bed even removing the blanket while still sitting in a chair, he asked, "What I mean is how did that your wound of yours heal so fast?"


    "My wound...?" He said as he straightened his back and looked at his stomach, "I don''t know."


    He was, in fact, telling the truth as he clearly didn''t know how he healed in but mere two days. He knew that for a non-magic user like him, it must have taken at least two months even with doctors'' ability and seeing it heal in two days made even the doctor curious about the situation.


    "So you really don''t know about it?" The doctor asked.


    "Yes..." Auden slowly nodded.


    ''Maybe it was another deed of the system.'' He had vaguely guessed the reason but wasn''t so so sure of it.


    The doctor sighed as he stood up from the chair, "Well if you really don''t know then you don''t have to answer it. Just rest on the bed."


    "Even if your body is healed completely, it doesn''t mean that you''re strong enough to move around. I know that bed won''t make up for sound rest but just lay there. For now, there are some visitors who want to meet you."


    "Visitors? Is it Veneesa?" Auden asked as he had only seen Veneesa when he was in the arena and it was less likely to be Remi and others. Although it was possible for it to be his parents, he just didn''t want to be them.


    He cared for their feelings, yes, but he also didn''t want it to be them because he would be grounded from the school because of the news.


    He till now had been cautious not to let his parents notice anything happening in the Academy because of his own selfish reason. He wanted to learn Magic...even if he didn''t have any potential, he hadn''t lost all hope and being grounded from school would only delay the time to achieve.


    He didn''t want to just coop up at home without any knowledge of the world whatsoever. He too wanted to travel far across the end of the earth, adventuring and killing demons and monsters with his superpower and saving lives like the heroes he always admired.


    What he wanted couldn''t be achieved by just sitting on his a*s, he still needed to work hard for it.


    "That girl? She just went home half an hour ago. She and your friends were here to visit you while you were unconscious for two days straight. Many of your friends didn''t want to leave you seeing in such state but I sent them home anyway...especially that blonde girl Veneesa, she didn''t leave till the point I called the guards and had to throw her out of the vicinity...I can tell that she has a thing for you." The doctor said.


    "Haha...sometimes I feel like that as well, but I don''t remember if we had even met each other before meeting in this academy and I haven''t talked too much with her as well. Or is it my face that attracts the girls. I didn''t know I was quite a lady killer." Auden replied.


    "Pah...! I hardly believe it. Don''t flatter yourself. What I was saying before was some people are here to meet you." The doctor said as he glanced towards the door and said.


    "You guys can come in!"


    Creak~


    The door opened making a loud noise unpleasant for ears to hear as if the door wasn''t maintained for years. From the hallway entered two figures slowly walking towards the bed Auden was in.


    "Well, I guess they don''t need any introduction but I''ll introduce them anyway."


    "The man with the old body but young look with dead eyes is the principal of this school and the man beside him is..."


    "Just an idiot!"


    "What did you say, W bastard?" The man said as he looked at the doctor.


    "Tsk... I didn''t lie." The doctor said as he shrugged his shoulder.


    "What?...Sigh~ Forget about it." The man looked at Auden and said, "Actually I''m the manager of the surveillance department of this academy. You can call me as Mr.Cool."


    "Told you he is an idiot, didn''t I?"The doctor interfered.


    "Just mind your goddamn business, I wasn''t even talking to you," Est shouted.


    "Well, I was talking to you."


    "Who even wants to talk with you arrogant bastard? Don''t interrupt me when I''m doing my job."


    "Yeah...? What job do you have here, you freeloader?"


    Seeing the two of them arguing like some little kids, Auden''s and Principal''s mouth twitched.


    ''They both are idiots!'' Both of them thought.


    "Ahem..." The principal faked a cough alerting Auden as he said, "You may be wondering why we are here to see you, right?"


    He didn''t reply but simply nodded.


    "It''s this...we want to reevaluate you."

 10 Turn Of Events

    "Reevaluate me?" Auden asked pointing at himself as he tilted his head in confusion.


    "Yes, " Principal affirmed, "Est there said that you might have awakened some sort of ability when he watched your battle against the class C ''Talents '' from Magic Lenses."


    Magic Lenses were more like normal lenses and were used for monitoring. In comparison to CCTV, Magic Lenses provided crystal clear image which could be seen from a large orb kept inside the surveillance room. They were more popular than normal CCTV in today''s era as it could also transmit sounds using mana as the medium.


    Listening to the principal, Doctor stopped arguing with Est and walked outside as he said, "I may be the third wheel in this conversation, so I''ll be out for a bit."


    "Hah...finally his brain functioned properly." Est cursed W before again shifting his gaze at Auden,


    "Don''t mind what he said before. Actually, he has an inferiority complex which makes him argue with me on every meet just because he was one of my lackeys in the past."


    "Because of that idiot, I couldn''t even introduce myself properly, My name is Est Cool. You can call me Mr. Cool."


    So, his name was literally Mr.Cool? Auden sighed but it wasn''t a moment to dwell about someone''s name. He smiled at Est and said,


    "Nice to meet you Mr.Cool. But can I ask you what this matter about a reevaluation actually is?"


    "Of course," Est said as principal Mark stood silently beside him and listened, "What we want to do is reexamine your body. When I saw you beat those three students, I could tell that you used something but couldn''t exactly point what."


    "So, we would like to reexamine you so that if you have much more talent than what we previously thought, we''ll change your class so that you won''t be influenced anymore by the low class."


    "I see," Auden replied with a smile but deep down, he was disappointed.


    The world always revolved around the strong and weak were trampled. Hearing it made him have mixed feelings as he too was weak and not too strong. He knew the hardships of weak because he too had led the same life.


    Getting picked up on for no reason, the mark of ''Trash'' which wouldn''t wash away no matter what they did, no support or help and always looked down upon. Those were one-hundredth of the fate the weak had to suffer.


    But he couldn''t just show his disappointment on the face because of the presence of the Principal who was level 7 wizard.


    "Then, how are you going to evaluate me?" Auden asked.


    "Well, if you give permission then I can easily evaluate you," Est said.


    "You can do it," Auden said as he knew there was no way his body would be able to use magic...nor did he have any innate ability.


    "Then I''ll start. It might hurt a bit, but bear with it." As Est said that, he put his hand on Auden''s shoulder as he released his mana...more like he injected his mana inside Auden''s body.


    "Aaarrrrrrghhhh~" Auden groaned in pain as his whole body gave out a blue luster.


    Seeing Auden suffering, Est immediately pulled his hands and looked at him, saying, "Your body isn''t suitable for using mana. The vessel is totally broken and mana keeps on leaking out."


    The way to evaluate someone by injecting mana inside them was very simple. The vessel was referred to the body of the person and the mana contained inside the vessel traveled in a distinct path that would later be connected in their heart which would purify and absorb the mana.


    But in Auden''s case, the body was totally unsuitable for using mana.


    "Your body is even worse than that of normal low class. At least, they can absorb some amount of mana but your body keeps on leaking it and from what I injected, ninety-nine percent of my mana didn''t even enter your body. If that amount of mana had entered then you might as well have died just from the pain." Est said.


    "So, his body isn''t suitable. Then do you think what you saw back was a mistake?" Principal Mark asked.


    "No, I don''t think so," Est replied as he looked at the principal, "Sir, can you just examine himself that if he has an inborn ability?"


    "I guess I can do it." Principal Mark said as he moved forward and just gently gazed at Auden.


    Gentle though the gaze was, the pale yellow vicious eyes made Auden feel uncomfortable and soon he felt a chill run down his spine. He felt as if he was totally naked in front of those eyes and nothing could be hidden from it. His heartbeat, his blood pressure, and his very being were seen through by the old principal.


    After staring at Auden for about ten seconds, the principal blinked as a sigh left his mouth, "At the end of the day, he''s but another trash who just got lucky."


    Shooting an angry glance at Est, Principal said as he walked out of the room, "Next time, don''t call me on a whim without solid evidence or remember that someone else can replace you."


    "What...? He is trash?" Est was dumbfounded but he couldn''t believe it. If he was trash then how was he able to take down multiple talents at the same time? He couldn''t believe it...he didn''t want to believe it.


    He then in anger grabbed Auden by his collar and lifted him up to his head, "Kid, just show the skill or what ability you used in that duel or the consequences won''t be that great."


    "I...I don''t know what Mr.Cool might be talking of." Auden hesitantly said.


    "You don''t know? Are you saying that I''m blind? Just show the damn skill..." Est rose his arm in the air to punch Auden when his hand was stopped midway.


    Looking at his side, Est looked at W and said with a tone completely different from when he had first introduced himself, "Let go of my arm, I''m talking to this trash."


    "This ain''t your surveillance room, idiot. It''s my hospital." Doc. W said solemnly.


    "And what were you going to talk with your fist? Raising it to harm a person who did nothing to incite your ire, how much are you going to fall?"


    "This kid refuses to answer my question and that''s enough to trigger me," Est said.


    "As I told you, let go of that kid. It wasn''t him who went to you to reevaluate himself. It was you who came to him and disturbed him on his rest time. The principal realized that so he left without saying anything but you...what gives you the right?" W said,


    "And what if he doesn''t want to tell you? It is his choice. As his doctor, I say that he is suffering from amnesia, and he doesn''t know anything about that...so you want to try me as well?"


    "Tsk..." Est clicked his tongue and pushed Auden back. Forcefully pulling his hand out of W''s grip, Est walked out of the room in anger.


    Auden couldn''t even grasp how fast the situation changed. It was an unexpected turn of the event he didn''t think would happen. Fixing his collar, he looked at W and said,


    "Thank you!"


    "It no problem. If he ever gives you a hard time then you can say it to me." W said,


    "And, if that idiot said something about me after I left the room then just forget about it because he just spews trashes."


    "Actually, in the past, he was my slave."


    ''These guys never leave the chance of belittling each other, do they?'' Auden thought as he listened to W.

 11 New Features

    "Status!"


    Name: Auden Frost(CatMan)


    Race: Human


    Level:3 Level up 99.6%


    Fatigue:10


    HP: 98/100


    Title: Bully Beater


    *Not evolved.


    Required for evolution (446/5000) CP.


    __


    Skills


    -Indiscriminate Claws(Passive)


    -Allure (LV.1)(Passive)


    ___


    Attributes


    Strength: 12


    Agility: 25


    Intelligence: 51


    Sense: 21


    Luck: 11


    *Attribute Points: 0


    ___


    Innate skill (Cat Form)


    -Keen senses(Passive)


    -Night Vision (Passive)


    *Requires higher level to unlock


    *Requires higher level to unlock


    *Requires higher level to unlock


    He had decided to look onto his status since the doctor had left him alone saying that he was going out on a date. With no eyes looking at him, he was free to finally check out new features of the system.


    What caught his eyes on the system right after he looked into his status as the new vision of the system. It was becoming more and more game-like.


    He now had HP which indicated his life force, he had fatigue, and more importantly, there were also attribute points and level up, which he hadn''t seen before.


    He then out of curiosity asked, "Do attribute points act as the points in video games which upon allocating on any attribute will strengthen the attribute?"


    Ring~


    [Host has guessed correctly. It is indeed the case.]


    "Then what about level up and level indication on the skill?" Auden asked curiously.


    [System is glad that the host asked about it. Previously the system didn''t have any indication to let the host know about his leveling up, so after the upgrade system added it. Also, the level indicated on the skill means that the skill could be improved even further. Basic Skills can be leveled up to level 5 whereas Advanced Skills can be leveled up to 15.]


    "And what are the new features except them?"


    Ring~


    [System wants the host to find for himself.]


    What...? What was that? Is it just my imagination or did the system just tried speaking like a normal human? But it seemed that the system wasn''t just going to reveal it, so he searched so hard looking at the screen and finally saw a new icon beside mail, but it was strange than other icons.


    "Why is the new icon have a small lock on it?" He asked himself curiously glancing at the screen. "Is it because my level doesn''t match to unlock the feature?"


    As he slid his eyes from upper right, he saw many icons that were unknown to him and there were locks on them as well. Curiously, he touched at one of the icons and suddenly a new window popped up which made his lean back in surprise.


    What the heck is this...?


    [Inventory is currently locked. To unlock the function, the host will have to use CP.]


    [Does the host wants to unlock ''Inventory''?]


    "Inventory? Like personal storage for items?" He held his chin and pondered as it was cool to have one and it could come in handy in many ways but the word CP made his heartache.


    With a heavy heart, he asked anyway, "How many CP do I need to unlock the function?"


    He still wanted CP to buy new skill so if it was too much to unlock inventory, he would just say goodbye to the idea.


    [System assures host that the Inventory isn''t too costly. The host can either unlock it at 10 CP or 100 CP.]


    10 CP or 100 CP? Auden was confused as to why the same feature had two different prices. If he were to choose to unlock it then he would definitely use 10 CP but he was also curious about different prices.


    "Why the different prices for the same feature?"


    [The prices were adjusted after the system upgraded and also new features were added like; Trial and Premium. The first price is for the host to use the feature for a limited amount of time whereas if the host buys a premium feature then he could use the function permanently. It was adjusted so that the host could use a feature even if he didn''t have enough CP to purchase the feature permanently.]


    So, basically, even if he didn''t have enough CP to purchase a function permanently, he could still use the function temporarily on a time limit as a trial.


    "But the CP to purchase a single feature permanently is just too much..." Auden frowned.


    [Host is wrong this time. The amounts of features were adjusted by the system with the host''s capability in mind which means the system also kept the host''s financial situation in mind.]


    [System assures you that this is the well-discounted price it could come up with and cannot go any lower and if the host doesn''t want to unlock the feature then it is fine as well. But the system reminds host that the prices of the system will rise by a mountain if the host were to miss this offer. The same feature will cost 500 CP one week later and 5000 CP one month later. So, you''re not going to get this deal if you don''t purchase now.]


    Now he was sure of it.


    ''This system has become more and more human-like. Right now, it just acted as a perfect corrupted salesman.''


    Auden didn''t want to ask any further. If he said another word then it would only be him trying to bargain with a salesman who wouldn''t move from his word.


    "I''ll just get a trial for the feature," Auden said.


    Ring~


    [Noted. Does the host really intends to buy a trial version of the feature ''Inventory '' for 200 CP?]


    "What? 200 CP? Wasn''t it just 10 CP?"


    [It was but the offer is now over and trial version now costs 200 CP. If the host bargains again then it would rise 1000 CP. So, does the host really intend to buy the trial version of the feature for 200 CP or the permanent version for 100 CP?]


    ''I see... it''s just that it''s forcing me to buy inventory permanently.'' Auden thought, ''But why is it being so pushy about it to the point that it rose the amount of CP for the trial version but not increasing a single CP on permanent one?''


    Wanting to know what it was actually up to, he said, "I concede...Unlock the damn feature permanently."


    [System thanks to the host for his patronage. The new feature ''Inventory'' has been unlocked will inbuilt storage of 10 sq. meters.]


    ''That''s it? It didn''t even ask again like the previous time. How much did it want me to unlock the feature permanently?''


    Just when he was thinking, there was another ring.


    Ding~


    [Achievement ''Buy The First Permanent Feature'' completed. Does the host want to claim the reward of 100 CP?]


    [Y/N?]


    "So, you just wanted to show me that there are even more changes other than the icons I saw, isn''t that right?"


    [Affirmation. The system just wanted to let the host know that there are even more features than what the host could see. But now the system has let the host a small clue, the system will not interfere any further. Also if the host finds the system talking like the way right now annoying then he can just turn off the human feature of the system from the settings.]


    "So, there was a human feature added as well. No wonder it was answering like a human. Accept the reward."


    Ring~


    [Reward has been claimed.]


    [CP: 246]


    Auden just when he was trying to check out other features after accepting the reward, he halted on his decision when he heard some sounds.


    Kachak- Kachak-


    Turning his head towards the sound, he saw someone trying to get inside the room through the window like some burglar.


    He squinted his eyes to get a better view of the person but since the window was black, he couldn''t quite see the face.


    The figure suddenly punched the window and made a hole on it from which, she used her hand and unlocked the window entering the room from it.


    "Phew~ that was unexpected. It seems like the doc. didn''t want anyone to disturb him. But since I broke the window anyway, I should make it quick or else he might catch me."


    Scanning the surrounding, she didn''t see any Magic lenses or CCTV keeping an eye on her and in haste she locked the door like some criminal trying to hide.


    Her attention then shifted to Auden who was looking at her after she finished locking the door, "Hey, do you want to join us?"

 12 Rebecca

    "NO!" Auden said solemnly.


    He didn''t even know what she was talking about...heck, he hadn''t even seen her in his entire life and this random person sneaked in the room like some criminal asking him to join her?


    "What? Why not?" She asked.


    "You want to know the reasons?" Auden didn''t reply but asked another question.


    "Yes."


    "First, I don''t know what you''re talking about. Second, I don''t know you. Third, I don''t know you. Fourth to hundredth, I don''t know you." Auden said as he didn''t take her seriously and again laid on the bed,


    "If someone comes like a burglar and asks you to join them, will you comply? Before talking to me, first, learn your manners and enter through the door...and Yawwnnnn~ Don''t talk to me, I''m going to sleep."


    "Wait, don''t just sleep when I''m talking," Rebecca said.


    Knock~ Knock~


    Just as she tried talking to Auden, she heard the door being knocked.


    "Crap, he has already noticed it? It seems like he did prepare for my sudden barging."


    "Auden, if you''re there then hold that girl for me. I''ll kill her once and for all." The dignified voice of Doctor rung from outside.


    "Hmmm...?" Auden was confused about the situation but it seemed like the Doc. had some sort of history with the girl. He slowly crawled his head out of the blanket and said, "It seems you''ve some bad blood with the doctor."


    "Shut up!" She said as she jumped out of the window from where she entered.


    Auden lazily got up from the bed and opened the door letting the doc. enter.


    "Where is that witch?" W asked in haste.


    "She jumped out of the window," Auden replied.


    "Damn, she got away again. But why didn''t you hold her as I had asked you to?" Doc. asked.


    "I would have complied with your request if my life wasn''t too important. Even I could pretty much guess that she was no ordinary girl, and if she was, then that bulletproof glass wouldn''t have been punched through without a single scratch on her hands." Auden said.


    "You paid attention to so many details?"


    "Just being cautious as always. This is the only life I have and I just don''t want to die without any reason." Auden said, "But why were you in so hurry? Don''t you have a date?"


    "Tsk...I was meeting her just when I heard the glass cracking. Because of the incident, I had to cancel the date. I won''t forgive that witch...its the fifty-ninth date that she ruined." W said, "Just when I plan to go on a date, she just cripples another idiot making me work overtime. Because of that witch, I have been dumped many times and this is my 15th girlfriend."


    "If I meet her, I will kill her for making me work hard for no reason. Also, heed my warning and stay away from that girl...they don''t call her Scarlet Witch for no reason." W said, "Don''t cross path with her. If you do then you might come here crippled which might also result in your death."


    "Crippling can result in my death, how?" Auden asked.


    "Well, after you come here crippled, I''ll have to work overtime and my another date will be ruined for which I''ll kill you myself." W said solemnly, "So, don''t get engaged with her, is that clear?"


    Auden furiously nodded.


    "Since you understand it then just rest and recover. You need a good rest... I''ll go for now and chase after the witch, she mightn''t have run that far." W said and left closing the door.


    Auden was sleepy as well so he directly laid on the bed.


    "So, they didn''t come, huh?" He sighed, "Thank you school, for not notifying my parents."


    "If they ask me why I didn''t come home then I guess I''ll just play ''I was in my friend''s house'' or ''I was in school mission'' card. Hahahaha, they won''t even doubt if I show my puppy face and apologize... guess I ain''t being grounded after all."


    Slowly, he closed his eyes as he trod his way through the dreamland.


    ***


    The next day was clear and as birds sang, she arrived at the school with nimble footsteps. Slowly peeking through the gate, she analyzed the surrounding.


    "Guess that freak ain''t here waiting for me. Yesterday was rough, I had to call his parents to make him stop chasing me. But the Auden guy was fine yesterday, so it wouldn''t take long for him to discharge from there."


    "After he discharges, I''ll ask him to join us and since we''ll have more time to talk, I can explain myself clearly. But for now, I should stop crossing path with that doctor." Rebecca muttered as she sneaked inside the school building.


    The day was boring as ever for her. She had to bear her way through all the lectures about magic.


    ''Tsk...being suspended was better. At least I didn''t have to attend these boring lecture and also final grades are analyzed by fighting abilities so why should we listen to lectures at all?''


    Just as she gazed outside the window blankly, her eyes sparkled seeing something from the open window.


    ''A fight!''


    She immediately stood up from her seat. Seeing her stand up, the teacher asked pointing at something on the board, "Why are you standing? Do you know the answer to the question?"


    "No! I want to go to the bathroom." She said.


    "How many times do you even have to go to the bathroom in a single day? Do you think that I''m stupid and you can just bunk my class?" The teacher angrily said.


    "It''s here again...she''s trying to bunk the class with the same reason."


    "If she doesn''t want to study then why even come to school?"


    "Yeah, right? She doesn''t even have the slightest charm of a lady. All she has is brawl and no brain."


    The students gossiped among themselves in low voice but not too low so that even she could hear it. She hearing them didn''t bat an eye before saying bluntly, "Its nature''s call and I don''t have any say in it. So, are you letting me go or not?"


    "Tsk...you can go. But remember this, if you don''t come under five minutes then forget about attending my class again. Just stand outside in my period before I even begin teaching."


    Rebecca didn''t reply and just walked out of the class biting her lower lip.


    Why? Why does it always have to be me who gets criticized? Am I just a witch like she said?


    A witch that nobody wants to befriend...just a witch!


    But sooner or later they will know how much of a help I am. They need to change their views of thinking... this world currently doesn''t praise you for your intelligence, it will but reward you for your strength.


    They cannot survive in the current world just by learning from books...they don''t know how horrible it is outside. They think they know everything but they don''t know a damn thing about me, but still keep on criticizing me.


    One day, I''ll show them who I am.


    Saying this to herself, she consoled herself and walked towards the bathroom where she had spotted the fight to be going on. She was a member of an organization that believed in equality.


    ''Rich or poor, Popular or not, the magic-user or nonmagic user, they are all equal. Everyone is human.'' It was the ideology of the organization so she never in her life discriminated against the weak, nor did she turn away from helping them.


    She always helped the weak and as well help them learn to defend themselves through the organization which was the reason for his brother''s anger and it was also the reason for W''s hatred. She always crippled the magic users who bullied the weak resulting in ruining W''s date.


    She got to the scenario and hid for knowing the situation even more. If she just rushed in without any prior knowledge then she mightn''t even be of any help and even incite the anger of the one getting mistake and decided


    So, firstly she perked her ears to know about the situation even more.


    "You bastard, who do you think you are?" Norr said as he slammed Auden at the wall. "I heard you roughed up my people good. Did you think that I would just let it slide?"


    Bam~


    Norr punched Auden to the gut as he coughed for some time. Auden was helpless in the situation. Norr wasn''t like Jack and he was at least ten times stronger than him Auden had next to no chance of winning since he knew what power Norr used and it was very dangerous if he were to say so himself.


    "I heard from him that you said your parents are some VIP, didn''t you? Even if they are, it doesn''t change the fact that you''re a grandson of a loser." Norr said.


    "Don''t go that far, Norr. Don''t speak ill of someone you don''t know of." Auden said as he glared at him.


    "What''s with that eye? Did it hit the sore spot?" Norr said, "I just stated the truth and your grandfather was really a loser. Because of that loser, our country is hardly prospering and has a very low amount of talented people that you can count on numbers. Why do we have to suffer because of that loser''s decision?"


    "I told you not to tal-"


    BAM~ BAM~


    Norr punched Auden making him stop in the midway, "I''ll talk when I want to. You don''t have any say here. And you know what, it''s good that bastard suicided. He must have finally realized his mistake and decided to take his own life."


    Rebecca hearing Norr''s talk was disgusted. Just what sort of person takes revenge on someone for a crime that their grandparents did who was already dead? Humans could be even disgusting than monsters sometimes.


    Immediately coming out and revealing herself, she looked at Norr and said, "Leave him or I will just beat you up."


    "Who are you...?" Norr arrogantly said as he turned his head but seeing her face, his facepalmed.


    "Haha, I was just joking with him. We''re like brothers and were practicing for a play." Norr immediately said and he backed off. "Well I realized I have some work to do, so I''ll leave for now."


    Norr immediately left seeing her getting involved. Auden thought didn''t even look at her and seemed lost in his own thought.


    "Are you okay?" Rebecca walked to Auden and said as she stretched her hand to help him get up,


    "My name is Rebecca and it is our second meeting. Do you need any help standing?"


    Since she was attending the school to recruit him, she immediately recognized him when she saw him.


    "I think not." He said as he shoved her hand away.

 13 The Thing

    It was twenty years ago, the world was in chaos after the discovery of magic. It was just like a dream, no one knew how it came into existence but it came nonetheless.


    There was a struggle for power. Everyone wanted to reign supreme which led to a massive war that broke and fixed the world for either good or bad.


    The stench of blood lingered everywhere one could go and the paths were filled with corpses of people, including normal citizens who didn''t want anything to do with war.


    The Earth had degraded but rotten hearts still fought and fought and fought. Even after a year of constant battle, no country reigned supreme as the pile of the body grew larger and larger in size.


    Officials to soldiers, businessman to the farmer, everyone was dragged into the mess and had just bled for nothing.


    As the saying went, one thing only goes to the peak just to return. The heat of war started to cool down as well. Except few, many countries had come to an agreement and didn''t intend to continue the madness any further.


    What was funny was that our country didn''t belong to that category. It was still embroiled in war, fighting the enemy nation for a core.


    The core was the biggest spoil in a war. It could absorb the magical energy from nature and release it even more concentrated than before. The richness of Mana it could provide to any country was obvious and if used perfectly, it was the best foundation of magic for a country.


    My grandfather too participated in the war. He wasn''t an average man and right after the magic was discovered, he used it to the best of his ability in but one year leading the country to the victories over victories in the battle.


    It was a day before the conclusion of the war. The core that our country fought for was just before his eyes, it was within his grasp just when he heard the shocking news.


    The enemy had infiltrated our capital using the underground tunnels and was creating havoc without any rest. He was right in front of the core which would no doubt have been the heart of his country but...he was in a dilemma.


    Whether to take, or return?


    If he had fought the enemy before him for the core then he would have won the core but at the last moment, he ordered every soldier to follow him to the capital.


    The trophy was right in front of him but he still chose to return. Upon returning, he killed every enemy soldier, calming the riot in the capital.


    He had carefully thought just to decide the answer. He knew what he had done, but he was proud of it.


    The day later, he heard the news but it wasn''t too much of a shock for him. He already knew the result of his actions and seeing them written in the piece of paper didn''t change his mentality.


    Our country won the battle...but lost the war...and core with it.


    The government let my grandfather off without any punishment whatsoever considering his past achievements, but they took his title from him.


    Just from one decision of his, he had turned from a ''War God'' to a person everyone cursed.


    Even after that, our country attempted many times to steal the core but every time after that was but a failure and many more strong soldiers died except for some old soldiers who by themselves decided not to participate.


    After five years of discovery of magic, the world finally again bathed in peace and there was no battle after that. After that, humans started researching and progressing towards the magic which introduced the new era.


    Great Magic Era!


    Even though he had won so many battles, just because of that one time, his name was forever engraved in history as a loser.


    I always asked him when I was little that why did he choose to do so if taking the core meant being respected by everyone. But all he did was dodge my question time and again or just kept quiet.


    But I was a stubborn little child who always shook him for an answer. It had almost become a routine. I would ask and he would dodge it by saying something else every day.


    I too had thought about giving up. If he didn''t want to reveal it then why would my stubbornness change anything?


    But one day, he called me himself sitting on the floor and said what I had expected the least from him.


    "You want to know why I chose to return instead of just seizing the core?" He asked.


    I was taken in by surprise but I composed myself and nodded, "Yes, why did you do it? Because of that, you are only being badmouthed by others. If you have besieged the core then you''d have been praised by everyone."


    "That''s where you are wrong." He said looking at me, "You are still young so you will not understand my reasons, but I will tell you this...even if I had besieged the core, they would still curse me."


    "Curse you even if you had besieged the core?"


    I racked my brain all night to know what he meant but my thinking was still like that of a child. So, I couldn''t come up with an answer and decided to ask him the next day.


    But little did I know that those were his last words and the night of the day he told me that, he had hung himself.


    Everyone who knew him was shocked upon his death. Why did he decide to take his life now when he lived for fifteen years hearing all those curses and criticism?


    No one knew the reason!


    ***


    The horizon was enveloped in red as the sunset pretty early. It didn''t take too much for the disco ball as the moon to illuminate the clear sky alongside stars.


    She was bathing inside the bathroom covered full of soap lathers when he entered the house and made himself comfortable on the couch throwing his socks below it.


    "You''re back?" Rebecca asked from the shower.


    "Yes, " Licht; her brother replied. He then looked at the clock hanging on the wall and asked, "It''s already 7:30 and he isn''t back yet. Is father on another demonic beast hunt?"


    "Yes."


    "How many days till the old man comes again?" Licht asked.


    "Two or so." She replied.


    "I see." Licht sighed, "So, I have to work again for two days? My life sucks."


    Licht was lazy and sought every gap to avoid working too much. He was more interested in knowledge and information rather than work. But nowadays, his every plan of running from the work was on a failing streak because of Rebecca running on him and leaving him with all the work.


    "Hey, Rey, want to hear good news and bad news?" Licht asked.


    "Hmm? Start with good news?" She said as she turned up the shower and pulled the towel wiping herself.


    "Good news is, you''re finally being kicked out from the organization for neglecting your duties."


    "W-What? Kicking me out? Who the hell decided that? Isn''t it bad news then?... What''s the bad news?" She asked.


    "Bad news is, I was the one who suggested it," Licht said.


    "You backstabbing bastard. What did you say? I worked so hard for the position of executive fulfilling many missions and because of you they are kicking me out...? I guess I will have to ask God for forgiveness." Rebecca said.


    "Hah...asking for forgiveness now after neglecting your duties? Even the forgiveness of God can''t save you from being kicked out." He said as he turned on the TV.


    "I was saying that I would ask forgiveness from God for killing you." She said.


    "Hahaha. Don''t make me laugh. First, kill all the cockroaches in the house before you even think of killing me."


    "You..." She paused for a moment before saying, "Every cockroach is dead except you!"


    "You...sigh~ Forget it, arguing with a dumb person is pointless." He said as he watched television.


    All dressed, she came out of the bathroom with a wet towel on her head, "Say...about the guy I wanted to recommend..."


    "Yeah, I thought about it and decided to go along with it." He said.


    "You will recommend him? Why did you change your mind so suddenly?" she asked.


    "Well, if you recommend him, the executives will know he is trash one way or another who can''t even do anything which will only shorten your time at the organization. Hahaha, so why shouldn''t I comply if it shows that you aren''t suited to be executive and need to be thrown out of the organization?" He said laughing.


    "Let me tell you this, he isn''t what you think he is. Even without magic, he beat three Talents in a single day." She said as she sat on the couch beside him.


    "He did?" Licht didn''t believe her as it was unheard of. He though acted surprised and said, "Then, take him to the organization and make him join right away."


    Hehehe. Using this, I will kick her out of the organization in a few days and after she''s gone, I''ll become executive filling the post. Then I can slack all I can. Hahaha, I am truly a genius.


    "I know what you''re thinking but he''s the exact opposite." She said, "And I still have to properly talk to him."


    "You haven''t talked to him and you are expecting him to join us? Get real. You can''t force someone in joining the organization or they will kick you o...yes, force him to join us."


    "I have just the thing for that. From what I have planned, I don''t have to go and talk to him anymore. He''ll come to me himself tomorrow." She said


    "He''ll come to you? How?" Light asked.


    She chuckled before she took out a pendant from her pocket, "Because of this."


    "It fell from his pocket when he shoved my hands away and went...so, I swiped it away and I will have to teach him how to respect girls as well. But for now, I know this pendant will make him come to me."


    "Someone doesn''t respect you...he shoves your hand and he''s trash and you are still recommending him? Well not that I am complaining since you''re about to be kicked in one week." Licht said.


    "Don''t talk about it." She said as she sighed deeply, "Change the channel, My favorite show ''Ruling Maiden'' is being broadcasted right now."


    "No, I''m going to watch this detective movie." He said.


    "Change it!"


    "Back off! I am watching the movie and you ain''t getting any remote till I watch it completely." Licht said.


    "Oh really?" She looked at Licht with a gentle smile on her face.


    "What? What''re you looking at? Do you want a fight? If it is a fight that you want then it is a fight that you''ll get."


    BAM~ BAM~ BAM~


    "Here, here''s is the remote."


    "My, what a caring brother you are." She said as she chuckled lightly.


    "Tsk..." Licht clicked his tongue.


    "Any problem?"


    "No, No. What problem can this lowly me have? I am all fine. Does her highness want juice as well?" He said.


    "Yes, Orange juice."


    "Then make it yourself," Licht said.


    "What?"


    "I was saying I''m bringing it right now."


    Licht said and stood up from the couch just when he heard the doorbell ring.


    Cring~ Cring~


    "Yeah, yeah, I am coming, " Licht said as he happily walked to the door and opened it.


    "I haven''t seen you here before." His eyebrows narrowed seeing the person at his doorstep, "Who are you?"

 14 Thirs

    "You sure go to your friend''s place a lot, don''t you?" She said as she cut the fish.


    "Well, it is not like I have anything else to do...my grades are satisfactory so why not just live a normal life spending with friends and all," Auden said looking at his mother.


    "I can''t believe that you just said that... if you just keep on spending your time with friends then what about us? When will we parents get to happily go on some family picnic with you?" Lianna said.


    "Well, if you put it like that...I feel I''m the bad guy here. Then let''s go to a family picnic this Saturday." Auden said.


    "Saturday? We cannot go on Saturday, I have a mission to hunt a Class A demon beast on that day." She said.


    "What about Sunday, then?"


    "No, I have another mission on Sunday." She said.


    "See...that''s why you don''t get to spend time with me. The problem isn''t only related to me, you''re busy as well." Auden said.


    "Now, now, don''t say that. What about the first Saturday of next month?" She asked.


    Sighing, he stood up from the chair and said, "It''s fine."


    "And can I have some of those fishes?" Auden said looking at the fishes Liana was cutting.


    "Why? These are for dinner. I am going to make grilled fish." She said.


    "Then mom just give me two of them. I like then smoked instead of grilled." Auden said.


    "Eh...?if I give you two then you won''t get any in dinner." She said


    "It''s OK. I''m full since I ate too much at the school''s canteen, so just give the two of them and I''ll smoke it out on the terrace." Auden said.


    She hesitated for a moment before she said, "Fine."


    Auden immediately walked towards her and smiling, he took two of the fishes and went to the terrace.


    The smoker was there, as well as the charcoal with some firewoods. Lighting up the fire, he put the fishes in the smoker with the fan in his hand controlling the fire.


    "Hmmm...Hmmm...Hmmm..." Humming songs from his mouth, he waited for the fish to be cooked.


    After he became CatMan, he felt that he had a unique intimacy towards the fish, especially smoked fish whose aroma made him drool.


    "Fast cook...cook fast...fast cook...cook fast." He muttered as he was getting more and more excited seeing the fishes.


    "Lalalalalalala..."


    Growwwl~


    His stomach was making noise again making him clutch his stomach.


    "It''s getting worse...my thirst... it''s getting worse... just a little bit longer and he''ll come." Auden mumbled, again and again, keeping him to his senses,


    "I cannot lose it right now...not after I''ve hidden it for so long."


    When he was on the floor holding his stomach tightly, the notification from the system rung on his head.


    Ring~


    [Warning. The host is in the midst of entering an abnormal state. The system is currently holding back the side effects and notifies the host that the system cannot hold the side effects for more than one minute. The system immediately advises the host to quench his thirst in that interval of time.]


    "I know...but he''s not here yet..." Auden said clenching his stomach as he rolled on the ground.


    [30 seconds till the side effects start taking effect]


    [Warning! The host is being notified! Warning!]


    In a small frame of time, he heard many voices inside his head warning him.


    [15 seconds...]


    ''Is this it...? Is my secret going to expose just like that? Goddamnit! What is that idiot doing right now?''


    [10 seconds...]


    Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!


    What is taking him too long?


    Just when he thought all hope was lost, a figure jumped in front of Auden and handed him a small bottle. Without any second thought, he opened the cap and gulped everything down in one gulp.


    Ring~


    The voice of the system immediately rung after he drank it all.


    [System notifies the host that the thirst has been quenched and System is currently absorbing the blood essence nourishing the host''s body.]


    Yes...what the figure handed him was a small bottle filled with blood. Every three months, he was required to drink blood to satisfy his thirst so that he would be energized and be in his peak condition for another three months.


    The details about the thirst for blood was revealed to him right after he accepted the system and its side effects if he couldn''t drink a certain amount of blood as well.


    And what was weird was that he couldn''t just drink any blood he stumbled upon...the blood must be of demonic beasts and nothing else.


    Because of that, he had been asking Froy to steal him the demon beast blood from the blood bank every three months. Today wasn''t supposed to be the day when he wanted blood...but because of a lot of energy being wasted on healing him, he had guessed that he might require to drink blood when he was still in hospital...and he was right.


    If he had waited for three months to be over without thinking then it might have turned out worse than this.


    He then after drinking the whole bottle of blood finally wiped his lips and looked at Froy.


    "You bastard, I told you to bring me blood one hour ago and you took this much time?" He yelled at Froy in anger.


    "Sorry boss, it won''t happen again." Froy said looking at Auden with sad eyes, "But boss, you must also take the things like the guards watching the place into consideration. Today fifteen guards chased after me when I stole that small bottle."


    "You should know that you are not the only one who needs the bottle. Wizards and others need that blood as well to become powerful and you''re asking me to steal it every time right from their nose which is why they made the security even tighter." Froy said.


    "Try stealing yourself some time, and you''ll see how difficult it really is to steal it from all those wizards."


    "Tsk...I''ll let you off this time." Auden clicked his tongue and said.


    "Thank you, boss." Froy said, "Then, can I get the reward for making it just in the nick of time?"


    "What do you want?" Auden asked.


    "That fish which is being cooked." Froy immediately said.


    "You want one of my fish?" Auden asked as Froy nodded.


    Froy was a cat that worked for Auden after he saved his life one time from the truck. Froy had a scar on his right eye and was black in colors with some grey patterns in the back. He was also a bit weak-hearted.


    "If you want a fish then answer my questions first..." Auden said as he used the fan in his hand to turn the fish. "Is there any problem going on that I need to know?"


    "Problem...? Yeah..." Froy said, "Boss, you know, these days my life is getting worse and worse. One problem after another that I cannot even keep track of. Just a day before yesterday, Marie dumped me saying that I was boring. And you know that white kitty from the neighborhood who is stalked by all the cats in the town...yesterday, I proposed to her and you know what she said...?"


    "She broke my heart into pieces saying that I wasn''t that good. She even said that she didn''t like cats."


    "She''s too dumb, right? If she doesn''t like cats then who is she going to make babies with?... a dog? I wanted to say that but I was heartbroken from the rejection. And you know that pansy from the gardener''s house, she..."


    "Hey, hey...I''m asking if any problem is going on in the city that I need to know...don''t just go on giving me your biography," Auden said making him pause.


    "Problems of the city? Hahaha, boss, you should have said that from the beginning... I didn''t know what sort of problem you wanted to hear and started mumbling my own problems out."


    "Now that you know what sort of problem I''m talking about, say it so that I can do one superhero act," Auden said.


    "Well, if you make the relationship between white kitty and me better then you''ll be a superhero for me-" Froy stopped noticing Auden''s cold glance and said, "Yes boss, I understand. There is actually a problem... a huge problem in fact. There is a mansion in the neighborhood and guess what, there is a monster inside the mansion. If you want to do a superhero act then, I think you should kill that evil monster. I heard from other cats that many cats entered the mansion but never made it out."


    "That''s why the mansion is currently being called ''Graveyard of Cats'' and no cats dare to step inside." Froy said, "Is this information okay?"


    Auden didn''t believe what Froy said and said, "Really? What if you''re wrong? What evidence do you have to support that claim? Last time you took me to a place saying that there was a horrible demon beast, but in the end, we ended up getting chased by a mad dog."


    "Boss I''m telling the truth this time. I swear upon my cat senses." Froy implored.


    Auden still had his three heroic acts daily quests pending so he was looking out for some trouble that might help him clear the quest.


    And the problem Froy told made excited as well. Since it was called the ''Graveyard of Cats'', he wondered what would happen if he were to go there with the identity of CatMan.


    He then looked at the floating screen and picked up one of the fish giving it to Froy, which he munched happily.


    "It''s 7:40, and we still have a whole night in front of us," Auden said looking at Froy with a sinister smile.


    "So?" Froy asked gulping his saliva. He could sense that Auden was cooking something.


    "So why don''t we go on a little adventure in the haunted house?" Auden said, "Froy, take me to the mansion."

 15 Monster

    "Do heed my advice this time boss, we shouldn''t enter this place," Froy said as he gulped looking at the house.


    In the veil of darkness, the mansion looked like a creepy house. The gate leading to the mansion was rusted and broken which swing with a gust of wind making weird noises.


    The mansion itself looked like a horror house covered in moss as if it wasn''t cleaned for years and the walls weren''t well maintained as the paint seemed to be coming off.


    Auden double-checked his pocket if he had forgotten to bring what was the most important thing in this work. Feeling the thing was right in his pocket, he calmed his breathing and said,


    "No, we''ll go."


    "We''ll go? Boss, I brought you here so that you would be the only one to go...I''m only the guide, you should venture rest of the place yourself." Froy said.


    "Huh? What are you saying? Are you planning to run away after I enter the mansion? Besides, what if the information you provided was false. I need you to be there if I have to beat you for deceiving me." Auden solemnly said.


    "Boss, I again swear on my life that I''m not deceiving you. It is indeed a truth that I told you because I obtained the information from a pretty reliable source. And even if you kill me, I''ll not go to the place which is known as ''Graveyard of the Cats.'' I will never ever enter this mansion."


    "It''s alright if you don''t want to. I won''t force you." Auden softly spoke, "But if you had come with me I would have helped you make the relationship between you and the white kitty bette-"


    "Alright, I''m going." Froy immediately said interrupting Auden.


    "Oh? You''ll be going? It''s a graveyard for cats." Auden said.


    "What are you saying boss? We won''t know until we check it out for ourselves." Froy said as he was unfazed.


    Heh! Too easy! Auden grinned as both of them entered through the main gate. The door of the house wasn''t too bad as they had thought. It opened with but a gentle push and seeing the darkness inside, Froy shuddered.


    "Calm down...ghosts are not real...nothing will happen to me inside." But no matter how much he tried, he couldn''t hide the fear inside his heart.


    "Boss, let''s rethink. It looks like a haunted house, we shouldn''t enter such a place. My cat senses are alarming me to the limits."


    Giving a disappointed look, he said, "Didn''t we come here because you said that this house was haunted?"


    "Boss, you''re right but the house is shaking" Froy said.


    "You''re shaking, the house is not."


    "Ahhhh... it''s too dark, I can''t see anything."


    "Cut the crap. I know you have night vision." Auden said.


    "But boss, let''s rethink the decision."


    "Just shut up and let''s enter," Auden said as he pushed Froy inside the mansion.


    Entering the mansion, he used the partial transformation to transform his eyes to that of a cat for one hour. He could now see what was lying inside the house which was supposed to be haunted.


    But there was nothing out of ordinary at all. It was just like some random abandoned house except for the stench of blood his nose picked up.


    "Blood...? And it''s the stench human blood. It might really be the graveyard like he said." He mumbled to himself and looked at the Froy and said,


    "Let''s split up for now. You look at the right and I''ll take the left. The mansion is big and we''ll have to finish searching before tomorrow because I still have to go to school. So, Froy, take the right."


    "W-what are you saying, boss? Don''t you watch horror movies? If we split up, it''s all over. We''ll die and I somehow feel that I''ll be the first." Froy said.


    "Don''t be a wuss at such times. Man up...if you don''t then don''t follow me anymore." Auden said.


    "I understand...I''m sorry, I''ll take the right." Froy said as he turned, "But if I scream for help then come to me right away and help me."


    "Deal!" Auden said as he took off towards the left.


    Froy with his shaking legs proceeded walking towards the left part of the mansion. With every step he took, the hallways echoed making him jump at the slightest of sounds. He was scared by his own sound of breathing.


    "Don''t worry, ghosts aren''t real. It''s all a fantasy...yeah a fantasy."


    Quank~


    "Eh...don''t think you can scare me. Even if you come in front of me, I''m not afraid to die."


    Froy slowly walked through the hallway when he was greeted by a room. Surprisingly, the room wasn''t locked and with the push of his head, it opened as someone fell on him.


    "Ahhhhhhhh~ Monster...help me," Froy screamed for some time before he mustered up the courage to look at the thing that fell upon him since it wasn''t doing anything to him.


    Seeing the thing, he heaved a sigh of relief, "Phew~ It wasn''t a monster but a skeleton. That scared me for no reason."


    "S-K-E-L-E-T-O-N"


    After realizing what fell upon him, he ran full speed towards Auden''s direction,


    "Ahhhhhh~, boss, save me. This house is scary."


    With his scream, the dark and haunted house automatically lighted itself illuminating the whole place. Froy immediately seeing Auden, cried, "Bosssssss!"


    "I know you''re scared but tell me where the monster is?" Auden said calming Froy.


    "Who is shouting so much? You are disturbing my meal!" A voice rang inside the house and looking towards the source of the sound, Auden found a middle-aged man walking towards them.


    Auden squinted his eyes looking at the decent looking middle-aged man coming towards them and asked, "Are you the monster of this place?"


    "What are you saying? I am just a man living his life humbly in this abandoned mansion. I am not a shady guy, not at all." The man said.


    "Oh, you''re not?" Auden asked.


    "No."


    "I see. Sorry to have doubted you." Auden said.


    "What are you saying, boss? This guy is clearly the monster of this place. I can almost smell the fresh blood from his mouth." Froy said.


    "Huh...what did I just say?" Auden was dazed for a moment and couldn''t believe he said that. This guy was clearly shady and it didn''t feel right before when he looked at him as well. I see that might be the case...


    "Careful Froy, this guy has some sort of hypnotic ability...so don''t look at him," Auden said.


    "Well, I know you''re a monster, so you can just take off that sheep''s clothing," Auden said.


    "What are you saying? I am just a normal man."


    "So, you''re not going to comply easy way right? Alright, I''ll prove that you''re a monster." Auden said as he took out a hand mirror from his pocket.


    Showing the mirror to the middle-aged man, he said, "Now look at this."


    "Ahhhh~ Monster. There is a monster inside the mirror." The middle-aged man shouted.


    "Tsk...keep pretending. Even if you disguise yourself as a human, the mirror always shows your true self. So, don''t think you can fool the mirror as well. You cannot fool yourself." Auden said.


    "If you know who I am then there is no use to keep pretending, is it?" The face of the middle-aged man started distorting when he said it, "Then I''ll let you see my true self before you die."


    The hands of the man started turning green as oil-like substance dripped out of his green-scaled body. The face turned even more gross than the body.


    "Monsterrrrr" Froy yelled as he started running in the random direction as Auden followed him.


    Soon both of them stumbled upon a room opening which they found a large bed. Seeing as it was the only place to hide, both of them slid beneath the bed.


    "Shit! If I knew I was going to end up in this situation, I would have brought a ghost repeller with me." Froy said in a low voice.


    "By the way boss, why did you follow me? Weren''t you going to fight that thing?"


    "Hah...I was taken in by surprise by that dirty face. I think I''ll have to prepare my mind for that face before even taking that guy on." Auden whispered.


    "Well, now you see why I was trying to stop you? You said you would fight, didn''t you? Fight the monster." Froy said.


    "Shhh- I will when I''m ready but keep quiet for now," Auden said as he put his index finger on his lips.


    "So, you''re now going to play hide and seek, are you?" The voice of the monster echoed throughout the house, "But let me tell you this...I''m quite a player of the game. I haven''t lost it once I played this game."


    *Meow* *Meow* *Meow*


    Suddenly, hearing another voice, Froy said looking at Auden, "Boss, there is apparently another female cat in this house. She is asking me on a date. Should I go and meet her?"


    "How dumb are you? It''s the monster that producing the sound, not some female cat." Auden said.


    "Oh...I see."


    "Why are you disappointed?" Auden said.


    Creaakkkkkkk~


    The door of their room opened as the monster entered the room.


    "Are you hiding here?" The monster''s voice echoed throughout the room.


    "Boss, should we tell him that we''re not here?" Froy asked.


    "You..." Auden was speechless. "Just keep quiet."


    The monster checked every corner of the room and just when he was about to check beneath the bed, he gave up,


    "Maybe they are in another room."


    "He''s dumb mons..." Auden covered Froy''s mouth before he could speak further. He was being nothing but trouble.


    ''Yes, go to the next room.'' Auden said in his heart when he saw the monster''s leg leaving the room.


    Just as the monster was leaving, another sound echoed from beneath the bed.


    Puuakkkk~


    "You...don''t tell me..."


    Froy gave Auden an innocent look as he said, "That was my cell phone. The ring tone in my cell phone is weird."


    "Even if I believe that it was your cell phone for a minute...that ring just now...why is this stinking so much?" Auden angrily asked.


    Even after Auden had covered his mouth, Froy had found another hole to speak his mind.

 16 Level Up

    "Oh? You''re here?" The monster said as he looked beneath the bed.


    Sh*t!


    "Just because you farted at the wrong moment..."


    Auden looked at Froy and released his hands from Froy''s mouth saying, "You''ll make up for this next time."


    Froy nodded and slowly said, "Sorry Boss!"


    "Just wait till we get out of this house..." Auden said as he glanced at the monster who was trying to get to the Froy and Auden.


    Auden then pushed himself out from the side of the bed as Froy followed cause.


    "Grrr...even if you managed to get out of the bed, you won''t be able to escape from me." The monster said as he slowly started pulling his body out of the bed.


    Deck~ Deck~


    "Um...Hey...you guys out there. Help me get out of this, I''m stuck." The monster said as he tried his fullest getting out of the bed.


    "Eh...?" Both Froy and Auden were dumbfounded.


    Both of them looked at each other as an evil smile covered their faces with hideous sparkling eyes.


    "Hehehehe, " Both of them laughed heinously.


    *Sparkle*


    "Hey Boss, I think we should take some revenge on him for scaring us like that. What do you say?" Froy said as he cracked his paws.


    *Twinkle*


    "Just for this one time...I like this idea of yours," Auden said stretching his leg.


    The monster gulped when he heard that. He slowly asked, "You guys...what are you going to do?"


    The duo didn''t say anything but stood behind the stuck monster as Froy asked looking at Auden, "Boss, what do you say about giving him hell before killing?"


    "Sounds good," Auden said as he transformed himself in CatMan. He was just like a cat but standing in two legs and wearing clothes.


    *Shing*


    The dagger-like nails appeared on both of his paws and Froy prepared his sharp nails as well.


    "Let''s do this!" Both of them said.


    [Indiscriminate Claws (Activated)]


    "Cat Society''s Secret Move: Don''t let the enemy sit for thousands of years."


    Slash~ Slash~ Slash~ Slash~ Slash~ Slash~


    "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh~" "Stoppp~"


    Slash~ Slash~ Slash~ Slash~ Slash~ Slash~


    The monster cried in agony as the duo carved his two cheeks with their claws. Red blood started gushing out of his cheeks but the duo didn''t have any plan to stop.


    Realizing that the duo was not listening to him, he used his trump card.


    Glerpppppp~


    Gooey substance flowed throughout his body totally covering it. The blood gushing out of his buttocks stopped as well as he slipped out of the bed.


    Immediately covering the exit, he looked at the duo with murderous intent.


    "You guys sure are an artist. Painting my buttocks like that...you''ll pay with your lives." The monster said.


    Looking at the face of the monster, all gross like that, Auden was on the verge of throwing up. But controlling himself and his stomach, he immediately put up his guard.


    "You...Who are you?" The monster said looking at Auden, "...No, let me rephrase it."


    "What are you?"


    Auden grinned, "Why don''t you guess?!"


    "Hmm...you''re a human because you have the scent of one...and you are a monster as well...you have the scent of our kind as well but it''s little different than ours. Just smelling it makes me nauseated. What are you?"


    "A human? or a Monster?"


    "It''s human...to be specific, I''m human with some changes. You can call me CM, it''ll be the last name you''ll hear before you die." Auden said. as Froy hid behind his leg all shivering.


    "So you''re a Chinese Master." The monster said licking his lips, "If you are then you might know some kung-fu as well. It''s going to be fun killing you."


    "First of all, how the hell is this possible that all the guys I meet are dumb. Don''t you have eyes...don''t you have some sense? Do you have a brain on that gooey head or is it just grass that''s growing inside?" Auden shouted, "It''s CatMan!"


    "I know you''re a Chinese master...don''t hide it. I can guess from CM, or are you saying I''m dumb?" The monster said.


    "You are dumb!" Auden said solemnly.


    "You...now you have done it. I might have let you die just by ripping you apart but now I will feed your flesh to the dogs after I kill you." The monster said as he jumped towards Auden.


    Auden also dashed at the monster finally making his mind to attack the monster. [Indiscriminate Claws (Activated)]


    Slash~ Slash~ Slash~


    "What?" His eyebrows rose.


    Tens of slashes hit the monster in seconds but not even a scratch was made on his flesh. Auden''s nail couldn''t even cut through the gooey substance leaking out of the monster''s body.


    "Are you done?"


    BAM~


    He was bitch-slapped by the monster making him slam headfirst on the floor.


    "Aaargh~" Auden groaned as he only heard *Ting* from his cat ears.


    "You''re weak..." The monster said as he looked at Froy, "You are the one who used the secret move from cat society, aren''t you?"


    "Meow? Meow...meow? Meow Meow Meow" Froy said as he tilted his head.


    "Don''t act like you can''t hear and speak... I know it was you." The monster said as he walked towards Froy.


    "Wait...wait...wait...calm down dude. Let''s talk things out." Froy said as he subconsciously took a step back, "It was on impulse so don''t take it on the heart."


    "Like I care about that crap. Die, pathetic creature!!!" The monster said as he raised his fist at Froy.


    Slash~ Slash~ Slash~ Slash~ Slash~


    The monster''s fist stopped mid air as he slowly moved his eyes looking back.


    "You sure don''t give up, do you?"


    Auden jumped back as he touched his nails using another paw.


    ''It''s sharp like always...but can''t I cut him?''


    "Haha, you''re sweating too much. Thinking why you can''t cut me like before? The reason is this..." The monster said pointing at the gooey substance leaking out of his body, "This layer of mucus oozing out from every pore of my body acts as natural barrier for attacks "


    "No matter how sharp your nails are, it can''t ever cut through my mucus...even if it looks soft, it''s very tough. Especially for weak ones like you." In but a spur of moment, the monster appeared before Auden again bitch-slapping him in the face.


    Even though he was slapped hard, he wobbled for a moment but didn''t fall down like before.


    "Ahhhh~ It hurts. My whole head is shaking. You''re strong, yes, but not fast and nimble as me. Just because that coat of armor, you''re alive till now." Auden said, "If it can''t be cut, does it even has weakness?"


    "Hmph...It has, but I won''t tell you that after getting in touch with water, it will come off for a mom..ent....What did you make me say, you cunning bastard?" The monster said.


    "Boss didn''t make you say anything...it''s just that you''re too dumb." Froy said solemnly.


    ''Wow...even Froy told the monster that he''s dumb, so how much dumb can this monster be?'' Auden thought.


    But since he knew the weakness, he grinned, "Just water, it''s easy."


    "I won''t let you...look at me," The monster said as he got close to Auden.


    "Heh... trying that weird hypnosis again? I am well prepared for that."


    [Skill: Allure (Activated)]


    The monster was stunned seeing Auden and stopped right in it''s track.


    Auden took the chance and got in front of Froy and said, "It seems we can''t just kill him like this. Let''s follow the plan B. I will go search for the water and you stay here diverting the monster''s mind."


    "No, I don''t want to stay here with this monster. Boss, I''ll go fetch the water while you engage with the monster." Froy said.


    "If you don''t want to then let''s not follow plan B. Let''s follow plan C. You''ll stay here and I''ll fetch the water, how about it?"


    "Yes, I like it...wait...wait, its the same plan, you just rephrased it. You''re cheating me into diverting the monster, but I don''t want that." Froy replied.


    "Tsk...then let''s decide it with rock paper scissors." Auden said as he transformed into normal human.


    "Okay," Froy agreed on the idea as well.


    Rock. Paper. Scissors


    "I win. It''s you who will be staying here." Auden said as he smiled.


    "Damnit! Why do I always lose in this game?" Froy cried but he had already said that he would comply by the rules, so he was the one staying in the room while Auden got out of the room in search of water.


    "Why do I always lose in this game?" He said as he looked at his paws. He then realized, "Wait...I can''t use anything other than paper with these paws, that''s why boss always win using scissors. Damn, boss got me good this time as well."


    Froy then looked at the body of the monster which had started shaking after whole two minutes.


    ''Boss has a good ability. If only I could stun other female cats with my handsomeness. Sigh~''


    "Dieeee, bastard...wait, where''s he?" The monster tilted his head in confusion.


    "You just realized? Boss is already gone leaving me here with you in charge of providing you with entertainment." Froy said as he patted his paw at the floor,


    "Here, sit here. I''ll tell you a short heartbreaking story. It is about a white kitty who even though she''s white has a very very black heart."


    ***


    When Auden entered through the door, he was dumbfounded by the scene. The monster was sitting cross-legged in front of Froy carefully listening to him.


    "And then she said that she doesn''t like cats..." Froy said.


    "What? She doesn''t like cats? Then with whom is she going to make babies with? ...with dogs?" The monster exclaimed.


    "Right...I felt so too but couldn''t speak in front of her." Froy said.


    "She''s really a black hearted devil like you said." The monster said.


    Just hearing them talk like that made his lips twitch. What had happened when he was gone?


    "Oh, boss, you''re back." Froy said noticing Auden at the door. "That bucket in your right hand...is it water?"


    "Yes." Auden said.


    "Then boss please don''t come near me while you''re still holding that. I hate water." Froy said.


    "I know, I know...since I hate it as well." Auden said.


    "Oh? You''re back." The monster said standing up. Looking at Froy, he said, " That story was good, so I''ll kill you after him."


    "What? You''ll still kill me? I thought we were friends." Froy said looking at the monster with kitten eyes.


    "It is because we''re friends, I am going to kill you. Nothing beats seeing the face of your friend when they are about to die because you kill them. Just for that, I''ve killed other friends who were living here in the mansion with me."


    Froy felt a chill run down his cat bones as his fur stood up.


    The monster looked at Oslo and seeing the bucket full of water in his hands, he laughed, "What are you going to wash with that little water? My leg? But let me tell you this...my mucus will again start flowing after five seconds, so even if you manage to cut one of my limbs, you won''t be able to do anything."


    "And...Do you really think that I would let you cut one of my limbs as well?" The monster said as he leapt towards Auden.


    "Heh...I have the move from earlier. I''ll just stun you." Auden said.


    "Hahahaha...after so thinking very much, I came up with an idea that won''t let that attack of yours work again." The monster said.


    "Oh?" Auden squinted his eyes.


    [Skill: Allure (Activated)]


    The monster immediately closed his eyes and said, "Hah... can''t affect me now can it?"


    "Haha...You really are an idiot, and not just any idiot but a huge one at that." Auden said as he threw a bucketful water at monster''s neck as the mucus slowly washed away from his neck.


    "Transform my hands partially quick."


    [Affirmation. Transformation complete.]


    Without wasting any moment, he sliced his dagger-sharp fingernails through the neck of the monster, making his head fly in the air.


    Thud~


    The body of the monster fell at floor as head followed the cause.


    "Idiot, if you close your eyes in battle then it''s all over. Did that monster really think that he had some Earth shattering sixth sense or something." Auden mumbled as he looked at the headless corpse.


    His eyes then fell upon the head of the monster, which was gross, but he still had a smile of triumph over his face as if he had the perfect counter for Allure.


    Just as a sigh of relief left his mouth, he heard a ring inside his head.


    Ring~


    [Demon beast minion has been killed. The host has leveled up.]


    [5 attribute points have been awarded to the host as a reward for achieving a new level.]

 17 Graveyard of Cats

    "Woah...boss, you sure are great. You killed the monster of the mansion. I expect nothing less from you." Froy said clapping his paws.


    "Tsk...Don''t praise me with false words. You know how I was bitch-slapped by the monster right at the face, don''t you?" Auden said as he looked at the corpse.


    "I am weak and that''s a fact. If I want to keep on chasing my dreams...it has to change. I need to change this self of mine if I want to grow stronger."


    "Well boss, you''re great as compared to others without magic and you''re improving as well. So, don''t get disheartened." Froy said as he walked to Auden, "If you want to become strong then what has to change isn''t you boss...if I were to say it then what you have to change is your method."


    "You''re still challenging small non-magic user criminal so there''s no way you can improve by much. If the boss wants to become strong then you should try killing monsters that can use magic from now on. If you keep on pushing past your limits then only will you be strong, boss."


    "Oh?" Auden raised his eyes in surprise.


    ''Is this the same Froy I know?''


    He felt like something was different about Froy right now but he just couldn''t put his paw on it.


    Froy walked to the corpse and seeing the floor drenched in blood, he said, "Boss, isn''t this a monster?"


    "Yeah...so what?" Auden asked.


    "This blood. You can drink it if you want to. You want blood every now and then, don''t you?" Froy said.


    Auden shot a cold glance at Froy and said, "You...you''re seeking death, aren''t you?"


    "But why boss? This is the blood of the monster as well!" Froy said.


    "Can''t you see that the blood of the monster is spilled all over the floor...moreover, the blood is touching the mucus, so why the hell would I drink it?" Auden angrily shouted.


    "Well, if it''s only that then I can wash it for you since it has become dirty and all," Froy said.


    Cough~ Cough~ Cough~


    ''I might die coughing blood if I keep on listening to him...what I said before, I take it all back. This guy hasn''t changed at all.''


    "Nah...we''ll let it be. I don''t want you to dirty your paws washing the blood." Auden said.


    "Oh...boss, you care so much about me." Froy joyfully exclaimed.


    "Yeah, yeah," Auden said.


    He was confused at the moment. Even though he killed the monster residing in the mansion, he still hadn''t heard the ring he had expected to hear after killing the monster.


    "I guess killing the monster doesn''t mean a heroic deed. Hah...I did all of that for nothing." Auden sighed.


    "By the way boss? Is it because of this monster that this house was called ''Graveyard of Cats''?" Froy curiously asked.


    "Who knows...?" Auden said with a sigh, "The secret died with him, I guess."


    "I see..." Froy replied shooting a glance at the headless corpse, "I wanted to know since I hadn''t been here before but now that he''s dead...I guess I won''t get any answers."


    Both of them were disappointed. But then Auden suddenly heard a ring.


    Ring~


    [A quest has been issued.]


    [Many secrets hide within the mansion what seems like a haunted house. Everything is covered in darkness and unless the host uncovers it himself, the riddle continues.


    Objective: Find the secret concealed by the mansion.


    Reward: 10 CP and a space key.]


    Reward? His eyes suddenly gleamed with holy light. He was now motivated to find the secret that the mansion concealed inside it.


    But he had one question, and it was about the reward he would receive after he completed the quest.


    ''What is the space key?'' He asked in his heart.


    [For the question of the host, the system would like to answer by asking another question.


    What would happen if a Space magic-user creates a personal space?]


    ''Space magic-user creates a personal space? Well, won''t the person just be making a room in an atmosphere which doesn''t cause distress to Earth''s space so that the person could hide or rest?''


    [Affirmative. The space key also does the same and creates a personal space for the host to rest and hide.


    But since the space key is still in its beginning stage of manufacturing... it may have some other effects.


    It might cause distress in space causing spatial transportation to a random place.


    *Note 1: The chance of creation of personal space is only 1% and the percentage of failing is more. Use it at your own risk.


    *Note 2: If the host wants to use the space key despite the risk then he can use it, but just pray to God before using it so that the host doesn''t end up falling in the Pacific Ocean.]


    Listening to all those, Auden''s ears twitched. The item was good but there were too many risks...and the system said it was newly manufactured as well.


    But it was good than nothing. He then looked at Froy and said, "Hey, let''s search for the answers ourselves."


    "Boss?" His eyes sparkled with happiness when Froy said it, "Yeah, Let''s find out why this mansion is called ''Graveyard of Cats''! After I get out of the mansion, I''ll brag to all my fellow catizens how I heroically conquered the place that all the cats including the mighty ones feared. Then that white kitty will have no choice but to fall for my bravery. Quite a good plan, isn''t it boss?"


    "Boss...?" Just for a moment, he turned his eyes and Auden was gone.


    "Boss, we should solve the mystery together. Don''t you know that only one person can''t solve the mystery of the mansion...you''ll need me too."


    He couldn''t see Auden even after getting out of the room.


    "It''s not fair. You always leave me alone to search for things."


    Or...


    "Is it that the boss trusts me too much that he thinks I can search half the mansion alone? oh...I should have known this from the start."


    "I won''t disappoint you, boss. I will search every room for the secret and will find it sooner than you." He couldn''t clench his paws but he was determined, and most of his confidence came because the house wasn''t dark like as it had been before.


    ***


    In one of the rooms of the mansion, Auden was keeping his air in touch with the floor as he knocked on the floor.


    Knock~ Knock~


    "Not here as well..."


    Auden was in a hurry to find the secret because if Froy stumbled upon the secret before him then there was a chance that he would fail to complete the quest.


    Froy knew that he was a CatMan and Auden didn''t hide it from him because he trusted the cat. Well, even if he didn''t have faith in Froy, it wasn''t like Froy could go just and spill his secret.


    Since humans couldn''t understand animals or monsters...no matter who of the animal kingdom saw him using Cat Form, his secret was safe.


    He also couldn''t explain why he was in a hurry to find the secret to Froy because if he did then his biggest secret would be revealed. He hadn''t told even Froy that he had a system inside his mind that helped him.


    He was knocking every corner of the floor for a slim chance of finding a hidden door.


    If the mansion was to have a secret then it was bound to be hidden well and there might always be a hidden room inside a big mansion, He thought.


    Knock~ Knock~


    "It''s dud again..."


    He then went to another corner and rested his ears on the floor.


    Knock~ Knock~


    "Its a dud again..."


    He didn''t hear what he wanted to hear but his eyes saw something. It was like a notebook that was trapped in the back of the study table.


    Walking on his knees, he came in front of the crevice where the book was stuck.


    "This book seems suspicious."


    "OK then," He shoved his hand inside the small gap between the wall and the table to grab the notebook.


    "Come here...little book. I would like to arrest you for the suspicion of holding the secrets of the mansion. Come to daddy, the secret of the mansion."


    But no matter how far he stretched his hand, he didn''t reach the notebook. His hands weren''t long enough.


    ***


    Kirrrrrrch~


    With a red face, he moved the study table away as the notebook fell down.


    "That was dumb of me to do before. I could''ve just moved the table from the start.


    " Now then..." He sat cross-legged with the notebook all covered in dust in his hand. Patting off the dust, he anxiously looked at the book.


    "This notebook was too dirty. I hope it doesn''t contain all the dirty secrets of the mansion." He said as he turned the cover.


    It was at that moment he found out that it wasn''t a book but a personal diary. He slowly began to read from the first page.


    *I don''t know if I''ll be alive till you''re born but my son...if you get to this diary of mine then read it to know how heroic your father really was...and if I''m alive then you don''t have to read it since I''ll tell all the details to you myself.


    Auden turned another page...


    *The first day when I entered the army, the commander asked me what I wanted to be...and when I said historian, he laughed before make me starve for two whole days. But I didn''t give in to the hunger and gritted my teeth through it...I know I''m great.


    Flip-


    *Today, the commander asked me to buy him a bun...but I ended up eating the bun myself. I am writing while hiding from the commander...hehe, he''s searching everywhere for me.


    Flip-


    Flip-


    Flip-


    Flip-


    Auden when he turned, he found most of the pages inside the diary plucked out or torn. Furrowing his brows he kept on turning till he saw notes again.


    *Today the situation is intense here. The meeting is going to start...I hope it doesn''t turn out for the worse.


    Flip-


    *I don''t know why I was born? Nor do I know what makes me different but I feel something is going to happen. Higher-ups are deciding what to do... while I''m here guarding outside the room. Sucks to be me for the first time.


    Flip-


    The writing written on another page was just like a scribble of a little baby as if it was written in a hurry, so Auden had to concentrate his focus solely on the writing for a whole minute to understand it.


    *Can''t believe they are going to do this...I have to hurry and deliver the message to the commander. If they do that then...


    Flip-


    "What?"


    Flip-


    Flip-


    Flip-


    Flip-


    The diary ended on that page as most of the pages were missing from it.


    "What the heck? Most of the pages are torn from the diary. What was the person trying to say?" Auden had glanced through all the diary but he couldn''t guess what the writer was trying to say.


    "And at first the writer said heroic deeds...but where are the heroic deeds he mentioned?"


    "Did someone tore all the notes he had left? But if someone did it then who was it? It''s becoming more and more confusing..."


    Creak~


    Just as Auden was frowning, the door of the room opened.


    "Boss, you''re here. Did you have any luck with the secret? I checked all of the rooms but to my catluck, I didn''t find any secret for this house to be called ''Graveyard of Cats''. Now, only three rooms remain for me to check." Froy said.


    "Did you even check all those rooms?" Auden asked as he put the diary in his back pocket of his pants.


    "Yes, boss. I checked all those rooms." Froy said."Have you checked this room?"


    "Yes," Auden said.


    "Then let''s move on to another room," Froy said.


    Auden stood up and followed Froy to the hallway as he again rested his ear in the hallway of the floor and knocked.


    Knock~ Knock~


    "Boss, what are you doing? Let''s move on to the next room!" Froy said as he walked towards another room.


    "You really are dumb. In mansions like these, there are always hidden rooms. You can''t just find the secrets of the house in ordinary rooms. You have to think outside the box. Do you understand... outside the bo-"


    "Boss I found it!" Froy said.


    Cough~ Cough~ Cough~ Cough~


    Auden coughed to the point he was about to choke on his own cough. With a red face, he stood up, embarrassed and walked to Froy.


    "Don''t take what I said before to heart."


    "Don''t worry, boss. Except for something, I don''t take anything you say to heart." Froy said with a paw up.


    "Ha...ha. You sure like to joke a lot."


    "But, look at this boss. How cruel was that monster...he did such awful things to the fellow cats." Froy said as he looked inside the room with angry eyes.


    "That''s how monsters are. I now see that they don''t discriminate against humans and animals. Anything that isn''t their race, they slaughter them all mindlessly...I kind of now get where the mansion got itself the nickname from...but why did that monster do this to the cats who can''t even fight back against them?" Auden said also looking at the scene before him.


    The room didn''t have any pieces of furniture inside it as the lifeless corpses of about fifty cats were nailed on the wall like some decorations. The corpses were all set as they had no blood inside them.


    Auden could see why the corpses were in such a condition.


    There was a big round crimson circle in the middle of the floor which was no doubt made using blood and seeing the corpses even a dumb person could figure out to whom the blood belonged to before.


    Auden opened his mouth wide in shock... not because of the big crimson circle but something that was written in the wall with big letters using blood. The name written on the wall was very familiar to him...


    ASURA!?

 18 Avoiding Death By A Hair

    He couldn''t think of any reason for the name to be written on the wall.


    Asura was what system talked about being a golden lion...but why was it written on the wall of the room, and with blood no less?


    The more he started thinking about it, the more it was stabbing his brain with next to no sign of an answer.


    ''Don''t tell me that the notes are written in the diary and this name that is written here is somehow connected?''


    He immediately shook his head in disagreement because of a single reason. The diary seemed too old while the name in the wall seemed to be written not too long ago.


    Was it the monster who wrote it? But why? More importantly, how did that dumb monster know the human language to write that on the wall?


    "Aarrrrrrrrrrrrgh~" Auden madly scratched his head in fuming anger.


    ''Is boss very angry that he couldn''t come to save the fellow catizens before? Ah...he cares for the cats. My respect for you has risen up by a notch...boss, I''ll always follow you.'' Froy thought as he looked at Auden.


    Ring~


    [The host has successfully found the secret concealed by the mansion. The host has been awarded 10 CP and a space key, he can claim the award from the mailbox.]


    So, this was indeed the secret hidden within the mansion. He believed that it wasn''t related to the corpses of the cats but the secret was actually the name written in the wall.


    ''What does the name Asura written in the wall mean?'' He asked in his heart.


    Ring ~


    [System has already helped the host plenty with the reward and the hints. The secret behind the name written in the wall...the host has to figure it out by himself. The system wants the host to depend on himself more and first think plenty before he asks System questions.]


    [Of course, if it is a question about the system and other skills, System would be glad to help...but the system tells the host that it isn''t the system that is currently breathing...So, the system humbly asks the host to try making his own choice more and ask less to the system regarding the secrets that concern the path might take. After all, it isn''t for the system to decide what path the host should take...system is just here to help the host in whatever path he''s going to take.]


    ''Eh...? It''s talking like some human and giving me advice again...but I can''t refute because whenever I see the problem I ask for the system''s help. I guess I''m being more and more dependent like the system said. I guess I should hold on to asking the system every matter I don''t understand unless it is an emergency situation,'' Auden made up his mind.


    Froy then walked inside the room for the hope of not letting the bodies of the fellow cats just rot on the wall. But the corpses were nailed too deep that he couldn''t just bite the nails out of the wall.


    He powerlessly looked at Auden with a glance of asking for his help. Knowing what Froy was trying to say, he also walked through the door.


    But just when he took a step in, he felt the pain surging through his feet.


    "What was that...?" He muttered to himself as he subconsciously took his leg back. "It felt like I was being stabbed thousands of daggers on my legs."


    But when he looked at his leg, it was all fine and nothing had happened to it.


    "Was it just my imagination?"


    He again tried to enter but when his leg entered the door, he felt the same pain through his leg making him take it back again. He again looked at his leg and as before... his leg was fine.


    "What does this mean? Was it just my imagination or was the pain I felt real?" He muttered.


    Froy who was looking at Auden cautiously trying to enter the room was confused as to why Auden was acting like that.


    Auden thought for a while but still couldn''t why that was happening so he deemed it as some imagination. He again tried to enter the room, but this time he directly jumped inside.


    "What...?" He felt was something was wrong as he felt some sort of energy entering his body.


    "Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhh~"


    He groaned as his body was in tremendous pain. No cry could describe how much pain he was feeling at the moment and the energy was slowly rummaging through his entire body making the pain even worse.


    Millions of swords slicing his heart...? No, even that wouldn''t be able to describe the pain his body was feeling.


    Ring ~


    [Extremely concentrated mana is entering the host''s body. The body of the host isn''t compatible with the mana and is currently destroying the body from inside out.]


    [System has activated the Cat Form to reduce the pain but the host has to get out of the room by himself. The system can only maintain the Cat Form of the host for fifteen more seconds.]


    [If the host doesn''t move out of the place...he''ll lose his life.]


    Auden couldn''t even hear the system in his own mind...all his ear was filled with was his own scream. His mind was only a thread away from snapping from.


    Froy immediately realized that something was wrong with Auden and it had happened right after he had entered the room.


    Ring~


    [System can only maintain the form for another 7 seconds...]


    But Auden wasn''t in a state that he could move by himself so there was no way he could jump out as he jumped in.


    BANG~


    Froy acted right away hitting Auden with his head pushing him out of the room.


    Thud~


    As his mind was on the brink of snapping, he fell on the hallway and became unconscious.


    Ring~


    [Daily Quest: Perform one heroic act has been completed. (1/1)


    20 CP and a Mystery box have been awarded to the host. He can claim it from the mailbox.]


    Ring~


    [Stabilizing the mana running inside the host''s body.]


    [Mana will soon be getting rid off the host''s body by the system.]


    Since Auden was unconscious, he didn''t hear any of the messages...if he had, there would be another question eating his brain.


    Froy then tried waking up Auden using his head but Auden was unconscious with fumes coming out of his mouth.


    "It''s dangerous here, little creature. Let''s first get him out of the house." A voice rung from behind making Froy shudder.


    He immediately turned to show his sharp nails at the person and asked with a shaking voice, "Who are you? I-if you are here for the boss...then you will have to go through my dead body."


    "Don''t get me wrong, little creature. Just take him out or it''ll be too late for both of you." The figure said.


    "W-what do you mean...?" Froy asked with his guard up.


    "Tsk...crap...its going to..." He didn''t have any time to explain. So, the figure at lightning speed grabbed both Auden and Froy and jumped out through the window at the end of the hallway shattering it to pieces.


    Right after the figure landed on the ground out of the mansion...


    BOOOOOOOM!


    The mansion detonated as if some kind of bomb. Soon after, what seemed like a creepy haunted house before was set ablaze with yellow fire which ran wild slowly burning the mansion.


    Froy seeing the mansion on fire gulped and muttered, "If we had gotten out even a single second late then I sure would have been a roasted cat."


    "That''s why I told you to immediately get out but you didn''t listen to what I had to say. If I hadn''t been here, you two would be enjoying the wind breeze in heaven." The figure said as he looked at the Froy in his hand.


    "Soon, some superhero will notice the fire and come here...but I think you wouldn''t like them to see you and his guy, do you?" The figure asked.


    "Yes," Froy nodded, "Boss doesn''t want anyone to see him like this...so, most of the time he helps people from shadows."


    "I guessed correct then. Now then, hold on tight." The figure said.


    "Why?" Froy asked with a confused face.


    But he wasn''t confused any longer...


    Swoooooooooosh~


    "Ahhhhhhhh~ H-hate...I hate heights. Let me down. Let me down." Froy screamed.


    The figure had jumped into the air using his feet and seemed to be headed somewhere.


    "Are you sure?" The figure asked looking at Froy.


    Froy looked at the ground which was at least a hundred meters below him and screamed, "Don''t let me down...don''t let me down."


    ***


    -Two Hours Later


    [The system has ejected all the mana from the host''s body.]


    And half an hour after the message, his eyelids started trembling as he slowly opened his eyes as he heavily gasped.


    "W-where...am...I?" Auden slowly muttered as he tried to straighten his back when he felt the stabbing pain all across his body.


    Ring~


    [The system warns host that the body hasn''t fully healed and it will take the system about another six hours to heal the host''s body so at least he can move.]


    So, It wasn''t my imagination...I really felt that. Ah...I could even see heaven''s door for a moment. But why...? Did I trigger something I shouldn''t have?


    This time again he had managed to avoid death...and this time he literally avoided death by a hair.


    Froy seeing Auden''s open eyes burst into tears as he hugged Auden, "Boss, you''re alive. Seeing you lying like a corpse for two hours straight...I thought you got pooped for real."


    "I''m so happy that you''re alive," Froy said.


    "W-wait a minute...it hurts..." Auden said.


    "You should thank him...He''s the one that saved you when you were about to die in the mansion." The voice came from the figure.


    "He did...?" Auden looked at Froy in disbelief but accepted the fact at the end considering they were the only two in the room, "Thank you...Froy."


    "I don''t want this sort of thanks. You can say me thanks by making the relationship between white kitty and me better." Froy said.


    "I will...try my best..." Auden said.


    "What? Don''t go back on your words now, boss. You already promised me that." Froy said.


    "Look me in my eyes and say it."


    "I said look me in the eyes, boss. Do you want me to use cat society secret move: Make the enemy hide his face for months?"


    "Yeah...I will make it better between you and the white kitty." Auden said.


    This human has no girlfriend and a cat asks of him to make a relationship between two cats better...what a shameful life.


    "Anyway..." Auden said as he looked at the unknown figure and said, "Who are you?"


    There was no doubt the figure was a demon beast. He could see that only by looking at the figure''s face. His body was black and white like that of a zebra except for the fact that the figure was actually a white tiger with black stripes on his body.


    "If you are talking about me then, I''m White Tiger; a demon beast. I think you would have guessed it by my look." White Tiger said,


    "But I cannot guess who you are...no, what you are. But I don''t have any interest in it since it doesn''t even matter to me if you are a human or a monster."


    "Then, what do you want? Here to kill me?" Auden asked solemnly.


    White Tiger sighed and said, "If I wanted to kill you then why would I save you? You are weak and not worthy of my attention. I can kill you with just my breath."


    "Yes, boss, he''s telling the truth." Froy agreed with White Tiger, "He can kill you just by his breath. His breath stinks even worse than my fart."


    "I didn''t mean it like that." White Tiger said.


    "Then how did you mean?" Froy asked.


    "Tsk...let''s drop this thing as it isn''t important right now. You just need to know that you are weak." White Tiger said.


    "Then why are you here...and you said you saved me, so why''s that?" Auden asked.


    "Well, its because you killed that bastard whom I wanted to kill for years..." White Tiger said.


    "Is that it? You stayed here just to say that to me?" Auden said as he had guessed that the White Tiger had stayed here for quite a time seeing Froy''s reaction to him.


    "No..." White Tiger said.


    Tak~


    He bowed his head to Auden and said, "I know you might think that you killing that guy and I getting my wish fulfilled is nothing but coincidence but...coincidence though it was, I honestly thank you for doing what I couldn''t do to him for years. Thank you for killing him."


    "What? You stayed here just so you could thank me in person just for murdering someone whom you wanted to kill for years?" Auden asked.


    "Yes...Seeing that bastard''s dead body made me extremely happy. And I didn''t want to owe anyone...so, I helped you get out the mansion before it was blown into smithereens." White Tiger said slowly raising his head.


    "What? The mansion blew up?" Auden couldn''t process so many things at once. He couldn''t believe that so many things had happened after he was unconscious.


    "Yes boss, if this dude hadn''t saved us, we would have been all fried up," Froy said.


    "I saved you but you don''t need to thank me...I did it just so I won''t owe you anything." White Tiger said.


    "I see," Auden said.


    ...


    "You really aren''t going to thank me?" White Tiger asked.


    "You were expecting thanks even after you said that?" Auden was dumbfounded.


    "Yeah..."


    "Thank you for saving me and this little fellow," Auden said


    "Haha...you don''t have to thank me...I did it just so I won''t owe you anything." White Tiger laughed.


    "Shdubdidjdd...I am going to kill you..." Auden had green veins bulging like earthworms on his forehead.


    "Putting my death aside...I will tell you why I didn''t kill that bastard even after so many years," White Tiger said.


    "Actually, he is a minion that worked for Hylse and he is very powerful. If I were to give you a heads up then you should try avoiding Hylse at all cost because you not only killed his minion but also foiled his plan."


    "Foiled his plan? How did I even foil his plan? Is it related to the corpses of the cats?" Auden asked.


    "In a way, yes, it is related to them. The cats on the wall were used as life barrier so that the extremely concentrated mana wouldn''t leak out. The mana was stably flowing in the room until you entered it."


    "Even though the little fellow also entered the room, animals cannot sense or absorb mana. But humans are different. Their body although can''t use mana...they take it and let it out normally...unless a broken vessel enters. A broken vessel absorbs the mana but doesn''t let it out unless someone else helps them."


    "And after you entered the room, you absorbing the mana disrupted the flow which caused in an explosion after some time." White Tiger said,


    "You foiled the plan because Hylse was planning on wiping half the city out with that amount of concentrated mana but it ended up blasting only the mansion because of life barrier still keeping the mana in check. You sure caused big trouble for yourself. So, run away if you ever see Hylse."


    "But how will Hylse even know that I did it when he''s not even here?" Auden genuinely asked the question.


    "Because I''ll tell him that it was you who did it." White Tiger said as he stood up, "Don''t get me wrong but you are still a human and every human is our enemy."


    "So, try avoiding Hylse in the future. And next time we meet, you''re dead." White Tiger flew off as he said that.


    Auden was dumbfounded.


    "Wait, at least tell me how he looks so that I can avoid him..."

 19 Where is it?

    "Yeah...don''t tell me, big cat." Auden cursed as White Tiger left.


    "I ain''t scared of no one...no one," Auden shouted.


    "Bosssssssss," Froy slowly whispered in Auden''s ear.


    "Aaah~ Don''t scare me Froy," Auden said. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Hey Froy, where are we?"


    "We''re on your house''s terrace, boss," Froy replied.


    "I see. Was it that guy who carried me here?" Auden asked.


    "Yes, boss, that monster carried you here."


    "Hey, Froy..." Auden was about to say something but stopped midway, "Nah, forget it. Do you mind bringing me-"


    "Don''t worry boss. I get it what you want to say. I''ll bring a small bottle of blood tomorrow. Just be well till then." Froy said.


    "What? You think I''ll die lying like this?"


    "No, I don''t think that...but I have some worries after listening to that guy. I also believe that this Hylse guy might be some trouble. So, I guess you might not need my cat connection anymore." Froy said.


    "What are you saying? If I just stay cowering in my house after listening to the name of some random demon beast then what right do I have to call myself a man." Auden said.


    "Danger lies in every corner of this world. There is no way we can avoid every single one of them. And the problems are the same. If I don''t deal with my own problem then it''ll get bigger. It''s not like I''m being arrogant...but if I cower in fear just because of some random demon beast then I would only be asking to be killed."


    "So, nothing has changed. You go on using your connection in finding new trouble going around the city...and we''ll try solving it like always."


    "I knew you''d say that," Froy said as he gave a paw up.


    "Then let''s meet some other day, boss," Froy said as he jumped from the roof.


    Auden looked at the starry sky and sighed.


    "I''ll have to stay like this for six more hours?" He muttered.


    Since he was in his house, there was no way he was going to be late for the school but sleeping in the roof was pretty uncomfortable. It wasn''t like with nights of the full moon and he wasn''t unconscious to sleep anywhere.


    He started thinking about the events that had happened to him in this mansion expedition. He then remembered something that White Tiger told him before.


    "Broken vessel absorbs and keeps mana inside the body until some external source helps the vessel get rid of it."


    This time the concentration of mana his body absorbed was extremely high which made him suffer the pain he hadn''t even felt in his entire life.


    He was confused about something though. How did the mana of such concentration enter my body?


    He then slowly moved his hands and rummaged through his pocket, "If I know it correctly then this should have stopped mana from entering my bod...Where is it?"


    "Where the heck is my pendant?" Auden was shocked as his pants had only hand mirror and the personal diary he had obtained from the mansion.


    "Did I drop it in the mansion while I was running from that monster?" Auden was deeply thinking about when he had lost his pendant.


    The pendant was given to him by his father so that it would act as a barrier against the maximum amount of mana from entering his body. But it wouldn''t block all the mana from entering his body so previously on the weekends, his parents would get rid of the mana accumulated in his body over the week.


    That was how his previous life before he got the system was.


    But now that he had the system, the mana that would get absorbed by his body would be expelled off by the system.


    "Damnit!!! That pendant is quite costly and by now the mansion would be ashes. Should I ask my mother to buy me a new one?"


    "But if father finds out then I''ll surely be grounded. I screwed up big this time." Auden mumbled.


    "Tsk..." Auden clicked his tongue.


    "Status!"


    Name: Auden Frost(CatMan)


    Race: Human


    Level:4 Level up 5%


    Fatigue:51


    HP: 83/100


    Title: Bully Beater


    *Not evolved.


    Required for evolution (576/5000) CP.


    __


    Skills


    -Indiscriminate Claws(Passive)


    -Allure (LV.1)(Passive)


    ___


    Attributes


    Strength: 13


    Agility: 26


    Intelligence: 51


    Sense: 21


    Luck: 9


    *Attribute Points: 5


    ___


    Innate skill (Cat Form)


    -Keen senses(Passive)


    -Night Vision (Passive)


    *Requires higher level to unlock


    *Requires higher level to unlock


    *Requires higher level to unlock


    He glanced through all his status and something piqued his interest. He then said, "Explain the Title: Bully Beater"


    Ring~


    [Title: Bully Beater


    --The title when activated will intimidate the bullies making them lose their confidence.


    *Note: The higher the level of the host, the higher the effect of the title. Also, if the bully is strong than the host then the title might be subdued.]


    So, it''s just to scare the weak magic users who like to beat the people without magic just to show how strong they are. The title wasn''t too fancy but it was much to his liking.


    He was interested to see how it would scare off the bullies.


    "I hope someone will come for me tomorrow." He said with an evil smile.


    "I think I should change my method as Froy said. I only have been going for small fries... should I join a superhero organization? But every superhero organization has the strict rule of only taking in the magic user...will any of them be willing to take me in if I just go say that I can''t use magic...?"


    What a dumb question...Of course, they won''t. But I''ll give it a try after sometime when I get more attribute points.


    He then looked at another thing that caught his attention and it was his luck.


    "Why the hell is my luck 9? Wasn''t it 11 before?"


    Ring~


    [The system informs the host that two points from the luck were taken to make sure that the host would survive the incident from the mansion. It was used to increase the luck so that the host would surely survive the incident.]


    "So, luck can be used this way as well? Will I win a lottery if I used all my luck for that event?" Auden asked.


    [Affirmative. The host can use it in such a way as well but using the luck would only make the host suffer. If his luck is to go downhill then the host would find a problem in every turn. But even so, if the host is into thrill then the system cannot say much in it.]


    "I can use it like that?" Auden gazed at the floating screen with ''I didn''t know that'' look.


    "But I''m not into thrills and would like to avoid more problems. So, allocate five attribute points into luck."


    Ring~


    [5 attribute points have been allocated to luck.]


    [Luck: 14]


    With a satisfied look, he said, "Claim all the rewards from the mailbox."


    Ring~


    [Rewards have been claimed.]


    [Total CP:376]


    [A space key and three Mystery boxes have been claimed. Would the host like to store the items in the Inventory?]


    "Um...yes, and now that you say it...how can I start storing things in inventory?" Auden asked as he suddenly remembered that he also had an inventory.


    [Step 1:The host can just click on the inventory icon on the floating screen.


    Step 2: The host can then push the item on the space which isn''t locked.


    Step 3: Congratulations! The host has successfully stored the items inventory.]


    [*Note: The inventory of the host is currently only about 5 sq. meters wide. If the host wants to store more items that exceed the area limit then he''ll have to unlock the locked spaces using additional CP which will increase the area limit.]


    From what I can tell...this system is just a money snatcher.


    "I see. I have another last thing to ask." Auden said.


    [The host can ask anything he wants to know about the system except for somethings.]


    "Then..." Auden thought for a while before finally asking, "Is there air inside the inventory like Earth?"


    [Affirmative. There is.]


    "If there is then why did you create space key? If I want to then wouldn''t I just increase the space of the inventory and hide there instead of taking risks of falling into the Pacific Ocean?"


    [...] The system was speechless.


    "You didn''t think of that?"


    [The host cannot enter the inventory for such purposes.]


    "Why?"


    [The host just cannot.]


    "But first give me a reason."


    [Can''t you listen that you cannot. I already told you that you can''t, so you can''t. Who is the system? You or I? How can you be so greedy to get the business down of your own system which is helping you?


    *Angry noises* *Angry noises*]


    Auden was dumbfounded for a moment as it had happened so fast.


    "Hahahaha...aren''t I pathetic? I may be the only person in this world who got scolded by his own system. But damn, the human function sure is amusing. It even gets angry...that makes me know even more about the things it can do."


    "But I cannot...Sigh~ if I don''t sleep now, I''ll get late for school tomorrow. It sure is cold here on the terrace...I hope mother doesn''t come to check my room...if she does then she will start searching for me and if he sees me sleeping here..."


    He then put the items inside the inventory.


    "Should I sleep singing my opening?"


    [Yes, why not.]


    "I was asking myself...not you."


    [Many apologies. The system thought that the host was talking to the system.]


    "But I''ll sing my original song anyway...you don''t have to answer me."


    Mice or not~


    Demon or spirit~


    It''s not limited~


    There is no need to be afraid~


    CatMan is here to save the day~


    Victims and innocent~


    I''ll save you till I breathe~


    Lalalalala, CatMan is here~


    Lalalalala, There''s nothing to fear~


    "*Yawn*...it''s so boring that even I''m sleepy."


    ***


    When he was able to move around in the next morning after the sleep, he immediately got down to his room on the second floor and after being fresh, he changed into other clothes to go to school.


    Since, uniforms only separated the Talents, Perfects, and Royals, for someone like him, there was no strict rule for uniform unless he wore the uniform that represented other classes.


    He then got down to the dinner table and sat in the chair. Seeing his mother humming as he looked at him and smile, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    ''I guess she didn''t come to check on me after all.''


    Lianna then got the breakfast on the plate and placed it on the table. When Auden started eating the sandwich, Lianna said,


    "So, why were you sleeping on the terrace yesterday?"

 20 Inherited Ability?!

    "W-what do you mean?" Auden hesitantly asked.


    "I mean to say what are you hiding from us?" Lianna asked.


    "Hahaha...nothing. I hide nothing from you. I slept on the terrace yesterday just so to temper my body. You know the body can only get strong in harsh conditions. So, I was trying to temper it in cold." Auden replied.


    "I see," Lianna said, "Then where were you before sleeping in the terrace?"


    "Um... Sigh~ I went to the town for providing others help." Auden said. "You checked up on me last night?"


    "No, I didn''t check your room? I can sense your presence if or not you''re in the house." She said as she rested her hands on the forehead, "Yesterday, when I was preparing dinner, you jumped from the terrace and ran outside. Then someone else delivered you on the terrace."


    "You lost your pendant even before the time to dinner. I sensed all of it. But it seems like you don''t need pendant anymore because right now your body is automatically expelling the mana like you''ve developed some resistance to it...but why do you lie? Even if you can''t tell the truth...just say you don''t want to and we won''t force you for an answer."


    "Don''t make us worry by lying to us all the time. Can''t you even trust your own parents?"


    I trust my parents, and a lot by the way. That''s why I know that if I mention the system in front of my parents...I definitely know that they''ll send me for medication. So, I definitely can''t talk to them about the system.


    "I trust you. I now think I shouldn''t have made you worry. I will tell you everything. Actually, it started a year ago..." Auden said.


    ...


    "I started seeing spirits from that day."


    "You were so close to death, but a spirit saved you and now you can see spirits?" Lianna asked as if making sure.


    "Yes, it''s actually that. I too was confused at first but then I started seeing spirits more often...And now I have many spirit friends." Auden said.


    "I see...why am I hardly surprised? If that''s the case then it explains everything. If you have started taking help from spirit to grow stronger then all the pieces fit itself. I can''t believe it..." Lianna said as she controlled her emotion.


    "But it makes me happy is that you inherited the same ability I possess even though you can''t use magic. We believed that since you couldn''t use magic... you might be feeling like a rock dragging the family name all because you''re powerless. I was afraid that you might do something which you shouldn''t because of that..."


    Suicide?! Even if I wanted to suicide...I wouldn''t have done it. The reason was my family...and also because I was a coward myself. I was afraid to die...and even more afraid to leave the family that believed in me.


    Even though I couldn''t use magic...they didn''t hate me...nor did they despise me. They encouraged me to become what I am right now.


    "But...but it makes me really happy..." Tears flowed down her eyes as she hugged Auden.


    "Mother...?"


    "It makes me happy that you lived through all those shame and now you can see spirits just like me...I''m happy that you won''t be feeling down anymore," Lianna said.


    "W-what do you mean just like you? Isn''t your ability to proficiently control the lightning?" Auden asked.


    "Yes, that''s the ability I have or I tell I have to others. But actually...I have formed a contract with a spirit that can proficiently control the lightning." Lianna said with teary eyes but still smile on her lips.


    "You can see spirits and your actual ability is related to spirits? That''s news to me." Auden said without losing his composure.


    Wiping her tears, she said, "Actually it was your father''s idea not to let you know. If you knew that we were more gifted than you thought then...you''d be devastated. Just being a son of two talented wizards might have made you feel worse and if you knew that we were even stronger than what you thought we were then you''d be really heartbroken."


    "But now you don''t have to feel bad anymore. Even if you have a broken vessel, you can also become strong. You''re not weak anymore." She said.


    "You mean trash right?"


    "Shhhh- No one is trash in this world. There are only two types of people in this world currently. People who are either strong or weak...not trash." Lianna said,


    "I thought you believed in these words as well. Did the school corrupt your mind...if that''s indeed the case then we should stop sending you to school."


    "Now, now, mother, let''s not be hasty. I only wanted to know what you believed in...and I got my answer. You don''t have to ban me from going to school." Auden said.


    "I see. But why aren''t you happy to know that even you can become strong?" Lianna honestly asked.


    "Well, I got the gist of it when I first started seeing spirits. I at that time already realized that I wasn''t normal anymore even if I can''t use magic." Auden said.


    "You weren''t surprised?" She said,"...But it doesn''t matter."


    "But mother...I want to know about your ability." Auden said, "If you really can see spirits and have formed contract or whatever...how did it make you strong?"


    "Well, the spirits helped me a lot by doing most of the works and since any normal wizards can''t see them...people just think that I am a prodigy," Lia said.


    "They are like extra hands that will help if the other hands are useless."


    "Hmm...then it might be a lot of help to me if I were to form a contract with spirits right?" Auden asked.


    "Not necessarily. There are different types of spirit and if the spirit that forms a contract with you isn''t compatible with you then you''ll end up suffering a huge setback. And not to mention you''ll have to summon the spirits from Spirit''s world itself to form a contract." She said.


    "Spirit world?"


    "Yes, spirits live in different dimensions than us which is known as Spirit World. If we want to form a contract with them then both parties must agree and what''s most important is that you can''t just form a contract with any spirit." Lianna said,


    "There are rules to be followed. If you form a contract with the spirit which already has a master...or if you form a contract with a degraded spirit who was exiled from spirit world then the King of Spirit World will tear apart your soul."


    "Woah...how do you know so much?" Auden asked as if surprised.


    "The spirit that formed a contract with me told me...duh!" Lianna said.


    "With that said...don''t mention the fact that you can see spirits in front of others, ever. Go to school for now and after I get back from the mission next week...I will tell you more about that ability of yours."


    "What? You''re going on a mission today?" He asked.


    "Yes..." She answered.


    "Hahaha, now I''m going to tell that you have the ability to see spirits to your father...he''ll be so happy...and so sad." She laughed evilly as she said that.


    It seems that they have a history of their own. But to think that they were hiding their strength in front of me just so I wouldn''t be burdened anymore...that makes me happy.


    "Then I''ll be off to school," Auden said as he stood up from the chair.


    "See you later, Mother."


    Auden didn''t tell his mother the actual truth about the system, but he didn''t lie either. He after becoming CatMan could see spirits.


    It started right after he became a CatMan. The first spirit he saw was Ariel who always stood at the school gate. At first glance, he didn''t think that she was something different and ignored her, but day after day seeing her stand at the same place made him curious and he started chatting with her.


    To everyone watching him, he was just like some idiot talking to himself in the school gate...but in reality, he was talking to the spirit which others couldn''t see and he also mostly dodged the question if someone asked him about it deeming it as a habit.


    As always after he greeted Ariel at the school gate, he entered the school building. Many students were gathered in front of the notice board like hundreds of caterpillars in a tree.


    Auden was interested in what was mentioned in the notice board since the notice board was mostly used to notify the students about upcoming surprise events that school was going to hold.


    Why always surprise everyone? Why not just inform them so that they would have more time to prepare for it? Auden at some point thought that Fret school was getting some kind of kick by surprising everyone but it seemed like every school was following the surprise plan when he asked about it to others.


    After squeezing through the crown, he found out that the school was going to hold ''Magical Week'' and was informing students just a few hours ahead of it. He then glanced at another piece of paper that was newly pinned on the notice board as well.


    "I found it on the floor...if this pendant is yours then come to find me on the rooftop? What the heck? Which idiot lost his pendant on the school?" He mumbled as he glanced at the picture of the pendant on the paper.


    "That''s my pendant..."


    "Did I drop it in school even before I went to the mansion?"


    Other students were also looking at the notice as they were captivated by the picture of the pendant.


    "I think I should go and retrieve back my pendant." One of the students said.


    "Yeah, I''m going to take my pendant back." Another student said.


    "Just give up. I went to the rooftop before and found out that it was a trap. Many students went there and were beaten badly by the ''Witch''."


    "What? It is a trap set up by ''Scarlet Witch''? Then I''m not going. I don''t want to fight with her...she is a monster."


    Auden who saw his pendant''s image in the paper immediately rushed towards the rooftop without a second thought.


    Gasping though he was, he finally reached the rooftop and was greeted by about twenty unconscious bodies of the students. And from their clothes, he could clearly see that the students were of title ''Perfects''.


    "You''ve finally appeared...geez, I waited for about fifteen minutes." Rebecca''s voice came from above,


    "Haven''t you heard that you shouldn''t make a lady wait?"

 21 Rejection

    Tak~


    As she landed on the terrace in front of Auden, she looked up and down at him and threw the pendant to him.


    "Here."


    Auden grabbed the pendant and glanced at it turning over and over till he made sure that it was indeed his pendant and kept it inside his pocket.


    "Thank you for taking care of my stuff. You have my gratitude. I''ll be going now." Auden said as he took his stuff and started walking down the stairs.


    "I held your stuff for you and you won''t even say hello properly? Let''s talk for a bit." She said but Auden just kept going downstairs.


    "Tsk..." She clicked her tongue, "Looks like we''ll be doing it the hard way then."


    With but a finger snap from her made a blue ball of light twice as large his body surround him completely. She too was enveloped in blue light but it wasn''t in the form of the ball but in the shape of her own body.


    Czak- Czak-


    Blue sparks discharged off the blue ball making it seem as if lightning itself was being made from the ball of blue light. Auden halted on his feet when the ball surrounded his body but immediately his surroundings turned blur.


    In a matter of seconds when he could see his surroundings again, he wasn''t in the stairs. The place he was in was different than where he had been before.


    "Space Magic!?...Did she teleport me?" He rolled his eyes analyzing the place he was in and he immediately found out where he was.


    " Secret Hideout no.4: Old School Building."


    Yes, it was another of his hideout. The place was abandoned after the new building was made but wasn''t demolished. It was located at the back of the school and couldn''t be seen because of the new building blocking it.


    If one wanted to enter it then they had to first cross the main building but no one wanted to enter it because of its cottage-like build and lack of cleanliness. Only occasionally principal Mark would enter the shaggy building and check how it was doing.


    So, it was quite a place for him to hide...but seeing Rebecca bring him here...he had his guard up. After what Doc. W said, he definitely hadn''t planned on meeting with the girl, but she seemed like she wanted to talk to him about something and used the pendant as a way to lure him in.


    He looked at Rebecca in front of her and didn''t shift his eyes on the slightest.


    "You have several questions on your mind right?" She finally broke the silence.


    "Like who am I? Why I''m hell-bent on asking you to join us?"


    "Yes, come to the main point," Auden said right away.


    ''At least she has some idea of what I''m thinking.'' He thought.


    "Yes, I have some idea of what you''re thinking," Rebecca said.


    ''How?'' Auden was alerted, ''Was it just a coincidence? or did she really read my mind?''


    "Coincidence? It''s not. I can read other''s minds." She said.


    "What the heck?" He blurted out in surprise, "First space magic and she can even read other''s minds?"


    ''If I''m in front of her, I think I shouldn''t think. What the heck am I even thinking?''


    "It doesn''t matter what you do. No humans can stop thinking and as long as they think I can just read it like a book." Rebecca said. "I don''t have my nickname ''Scarlet Witch'' for nothing."


    "Well, I''ll be damned. I can''t even think in front of you?"


    "You can say so. If you think then I''ll l know right away." She replied. "Now that I have revealed a bit of my ability, why don''t you say something about the ability you have which you used to win the match against the Talents."


    ''Damn, she wants to know about my ability? If I think about the system then I''m screwed.''


    Shit!!!


    Even though he didn''t want to, he ended up thinking about the system anyway.


    "Why are you in a daze? Just say so...if you can''t get it into words then just think about it." Rebecca said.


    What? Auden was dumbfounded. Is it what I think it is?


    "What is it what you think it is?" She asked.


    "Nothing..." He replied.


    ''System...I have a system.'' He thought as if to check if he was indeed correct with his idea.


    ...


    "Why are you silent? And why don''t you even think?" She asked.


    He grinned when he heard her. His guess was indeed correct. Even if he was to think of the system subconsciously, she wouldn''t be able to read his mind.


    He wondered for a moment as to how powerful the system really was. But seeing that his secret wasn''t revealed, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    ALL HAIL THE SYSTEM!


    But it didn''t mean that he was out of the situation. He didn''t want to talk about his ability so he changed the subject.


    "Why are you trying to recruit me?"


    She didn''t reply but smiled and asked another question, "If I were to ask you that if there was a world where weak wasn''t dominated, would you like that place?"


    "Of course, any weak person would want to go to such a place and would definitely like it," Auden said.


    "Then, do you think that the world needs to change?...do you want to change the world?" She asked.


    "Yes, I think that the world should change...but as to the question of if I want to change the world, I don''t have such ambition." He solemnly said.


    "What? You think that the world is unfair but don''t want to change the world? Do you want to suffer your all life being called trash? Instead, if you join our organization, we are planning on a revolution. We''ll definitely change the world for real." She said.


    "If you had said you''d change the city, I would have ignored it. If you had said you and your organization would change the country, I would have just laughed it off but...listening to you spewing nonsense of changing the world just ticks me off." Auden said.


    "Do you think that the world is just some small house or something? It is big and is filled with all kinds of people. Let me warn you ahead of time that the revolution you are planning to change the world will be subdued just like an ant."


    "You...don''t you think that weak should be treated equally as well?" Rebecca said.


    "I think they should be treated that way but at the end of the day, weak is weak and nothing more. And even if I join you in that revolution of yours, what will I have to gain?" Auden asked.


    "Freedom...you''ll have freedom." She said.


    "Freedom? I already have it...so I don''t want it. I can''t believe some people are planning to retaliate against the strong...people think that they are being dominated but from what I see, they also have plenty of freedom."


    "We should be glad that we are even alive. Who do you think is protecting us against the demon beast threat? I obviously don''t believe that it is your organization that is letting us sleep in peace."


    "You say as if bringing change is a simple thing." Auden looked at Rebecca and said, "Tell that organization of yours to stop what they are trying to do or it will be over for this country."


    "How will revolution end this country? Explain it to me...if I don''t like what you say, I''m going to cripple you for good. I heard enough of those insults from you." She said with a clenched fist.


    "So, this is your problem. You always think you''re right without even knowing what others think of it. It seems you don''t understand people''s feelings...and if this goes on...even if you can read other''s minds, you won''t be able to understand them." Auden solemnly said.


    "You are just asking for a beating right now. Just talk about how it''ll cause the downfall of this country." She said.


    Auden sighed and said, "You sure are on the high horse right now. Even though you are tired to the point of fainting. What you have good about you is your poker face and nothing more."


    "Taking down twenty Perfects and using teleportation...it might have tired you a lot. You are nothing but a bluff right now and even I can defeat you so don''t just go on trying to scare me."


    Her eyes opened wide in shock.


    ''How? How did he know?''


    Bam~


    He punched at the floor which made a small crack in it and blood flowed down his fist.


    "You don''t have strength but I''m in my peak strength. You wouldn''t want to be beaten by someone less skilled than you, right? So, just listen to what I have to say."


    ''System...That hurt...System.''


    "The world is suffering from the problem of invasion of demon beast horde in this era and our country is no exception. If at this critical time our country starts the internal battle then it would destroy the country for sure. After all, it won''t help either weak or strong...it''ll only help demon beasts."


    "And even if you somehow managed to achieve what you said, then what? What can you do to maintain it? You''ll just keep them in check using power? Then how are you people any different?"


    "More importantly, conflicts will only rise. Everybody is power fed so they wouldn''t just bow...there will be many more internal wars and chain of hatred will only continue with next to no sign of stopping." Auden said.


    He then looked at Rebecca who seemed completely surprised by what he said.


    "You didn''t think of that?"


    "No, " She shook her head.


    "Going to change the world without any idea of the consequences? You are dumb, aren''t you? If I were to guess then you would be a student with a low grade. What is your grade?," He asked.


    "A+, " She replied.


    "Don''t lie," Auden said.


    "It''s D+"


    "Hahaha, no wonder you don''t have thinking ability. But if I were to look on the good side, you still have +." He stood up with a proud face.


    At least he wasn''t dumb even if he was weak. He then turned and walked out of the old school building saying,


    "I might have thought of it if it was some superhero organization...but an organization preparing for internal conflict? Just forget about getting me in. I reject to join it."


    ''Gyaahahahaha...That was too cool of me.''


    He had to take a round trip before he saw the school ground again. As he walked forward, he saw students gathered in a place.


    "Has the event already started?" He mumbled to himself.


    He walked even fast to the crowd when he started hearing sobs. It got louder the closed he got to the crowd.


    As he squeezed through the crowd to know what was happening, he finally got to the front. A girl wearing the uniform of the perfect was sobbing above the body which lay covered in the pool of blood.


    "What happened here?" Auden couldn''t help but say it out aloud.


    As if responding to his question, the girl sobbing finally raised her head and looked at Auden in anger.


    "You bastard...why did you kill her?"

 22 7 Days Till Nex

    "M-me...kill her?" Auden said pointing his index finger at himself confused.


    "Don''t act innocent...You are the only one who would do it." She said as she stood up revealing the back of the body of another girl wearing the uniform of a Perfect which was sullied by blood.


    Grabbing Auden by the collar with blood-covered hands, She looked him into eyes and said, "You are the only one who can do it... so don''t act innocent!"


    Auden was confused about the situation and the girl blaming him made it even worse. He couldn''t even understand what was happening.


    The crowd was already looking at him when she said that. Auden gulped as a bead of sweat dropped off his forehead.


    "He is the one who killed the girl?"


    "No way, look at his clothes...he''s trash and killing a Perfect is out of the question."


    "So, he''s just being framed? But what would a Perfect be hoping to achieve by framing trash?"


    "I don''t know as well...Let''s just stand and watch." The crowd was talking among themselves in low voice.


    I am getting blamed? For killing someone?


    Everything was happening so fast that he couldn''t even keep track of what was happening. He slowly moved his eyes and looked at the dead body of the girl lying on the ground and noticed that the girl was actually Perfect.


    I might have several demon beasts of lower than lower classes... I might have fought several weak people engaging themselves in crime but...


    "I didn''t kill her...And that''s the truth!" I said looking into her eyes.


    I haven''t killed anybody in my entire life!


    He slowly breathed and calmed his mind slowly taking in all that was happening in the surrounding. He then realized what was happening said without losing nerve said,


    "Can''t you see that the girl who is dead is Perfect...and how can a person like me without any magical abilities kill such person? At least think rationally before blaming someone." Auden said.


    As he said that, seven more people squeezed through the crowd and came to the front.


    "I have brought the Peace Keepers like you asked the little girl. Did you find out the person who did it?" Principal Mark said.


    Est and W stood behind Principal Mark with a lady who seemed to be in her mid-twenties. Beside them were three officers wearing blue uniforms with sword badges on it clearly showing that they were peace keepers.


    Peace keepers were like normal police officers but one who could use magic.


    "Principal Mark, this bastard is the one who killed her." The girl said as she grabbed Auden''s collar even tightly.


    "This boy..." Principal mark muttered as he stroked his beard. He remembered Auden from the hospital. He was said to have some weird ability but Talent was one thing and Perfect was a totally different matter.


    "Are you sure you have the right guy? Do you have any evidence to support your claim, little girl?"


    "Yes, as a matter of fact, I have. It was when he rushed to the rooftop. He was the only one who went to the rooftop at that time and she had followed after him. I was waiting here for her but after some moment she went to the rooftop, I heard a sharp scream."


    "When I tried to figure out the origin of the scream...her body lifelessly fell to the ground right in front of me. And when I looked at the terrace, I saw a face smiling heinously as if satisfied." She said.


    One of the Peace Officer then walked forward and looked at Auden who was being grabbed the girl.


    "She is telling the truth. Is there anything you want to say before we take you...? Do you want to plead for mercy?" The officer asked.


    "Do I want to plead for mercy?... Why should I plead for mercy for the crime I haven''t even committed? As a matter of fact, I wasn''t even on the terrace when it happened. I was in the old school building when it happened... if what she is saying is the truth then she must either have mistaken someone for me...or she is just trying to frame me for someone else''s crime." Auden said.


    "And he isn''t lying either...," The officer sighed.


    "What do you mean he''s not lying? I clearly saw him at the rooftop." She said.


    "Yes, I might agree with her in this case," Est spoke from behind.


    "Oh?" The officer turned to Est and asked, "Why do you think so?"


    "It''s because that this trashy bastard was able to defeat three Talents one after another...and I clearly think that this bastard is hiding something. If this trash has something up his sleeve then it wouldn''t be difficult for him to kill a perfect and hide the truth from your vision." Est said.


    "I see. You also speak the truth." The officer said.


    "But I clearly disagree with that." W said, "When I checked his body, I didn''t find anything and Franz, you also know how skilled I''m at searching even than you, don''t you?"


    "Besides this bastard always lies. Because of his lies, he''s been given the title of ''King of Liars'' by the principal. So, don''t trust what he says. He''s just trying to distract you and is using you to ruin the life of an innocent lad."


    "And you''re telling the truth as well W. This surely has become a confusion." officer said.


    "Little girl...do you have any other evidence to support your claim?" He turned to Tresa and asked.


    "Other proof?" She glanced at Auden''s body and noticed his hand, "If you didn''t get involved in a fight then how did you get that wound?"


    "It''s because I punched the floor of the old building to vent my anger," Auden replied.


    "Sigh~" Franz sighed again, "Let''s first check out the old building."


    ...


    After checking out the old building they confirmed that Auden was indeed telling the truth and there was Rebecca as well who supported his claim by saying that it was her who teleported him there.


    The questions were only rose with next to no sign for an answer. Everyone was telling the truth.


    "It''s the same with other cases...Tsk, cunning bastard did it again." One of the officers sighed.


    Listening to the officer, Tresa asked as if confused, "What do you mean officer?"


    The officer looked at Franz as Franz sighed, "There is no point in hiding it any longer."


    "The truth is...this little guy isn''t a killer. We had already figured it out but we were still hoping to find the criminal so we tried to find every reason he could be the killer." Franz said.


    "Actually, there''s a serial killer roaming in the city. The killer has killed about six people till now but we still haven''t found a single clue about the killer. The killer leaves no trace behind and what''s worse is that the killer frames some else by making someone witness the scene."


    "Because of that, the killer hasn''t been caught until now. No matter who we interrogate, everyone tells the truth making the case even more puzzling to solve. That bastard even mocks the Peace Officers by leaving the time when that killer would kill next."


    "From what you all said, we had already figured it out that it was the case where the same serial killer was involved. And from what you said little girl...it''s obvious that the killer used you for this act." Franz said.


    "Used me? I was being used to frame someone else? But how is the killer able to copy other''s face...?" Tresa said.


    "In this era of magic, copying others face is easy...but that killer not only copies the person''s face but also copies the person''s aura because of which no one can say that the killer is using a fake identity," Franz said.


    "Such useful ability and using it to kill others? This guy must be someone who enjoys killing." W said.


    "We also think that this is the case. And we are searching for the killer with all we have. If we let that bastard make fun of us then how can we keep on protecting the peace? Don''t worry we''ll find the killer very soon." Franz said.


    "Using me as a pawn?" With a fuming face, Tresa clenched her fist, "If that killer ever crosses my path...I''ll slaughter that bastard."


    "No, you shouldn''t do that, little girl. If you ever come across the killer then contact us right away. Not only is the bastard good at deception... that bastard is quite skilled as well."


    "Before this, the bastard has already killed five Royals easily and there were no signs of resisting at all. You should always be on guard if you face that serial killer." Franz said.


    Listening to Franz, Auden was relieved, "So, am I out of the suspicion now?"


    "Yes, but we might call you at any time so answer us when we do," Franz said.


    One of the officers then walked to Franz and gave him a piece of paper covered in blood and whispered in his ears,


    "Like other cases, her heart is missing and I found the paper in the cavity."


    "Tsk..." Franz with blue veins bulging on his forehead clicked his tongue and unfolded the paper.


    Franz squinted his eyes as he tore the paper. Principal Mark seeing Franz do it asked,


    "What was written in the paper, officer?"


    "It''s...that bastard is mocking us again," Franz said, "It says..."


    "7 Days Till Next!"

 23 Magical Week Begins

    "Does that mean what I think it means?" Mark asked with a side look.


    "Yeah...It means exactly what you think it means. That bastard will kill another person again after seven days..." Franz said as he gritted his teeth.


    "That...that bastard... don''t let me catch you...if I do..."


    "I will show you something worse than hell!"


    W wanted to speak something just as Mark spoke up saying, "Officer, does the girl''s death affect this school in any way?"


    "Hahaha...I like this principal already. I like you, old man. You care more about your reputation than life if your own students...? You are just like me...no, you''re just the mirror reflection of me when I was young." Franz laughed.


    "Don''t you mean to say that you''re the reflection of me since you''re younger than me and all?" Mark said.


    "Don''t joke around, old man" Franz coldly glanced at Mark and said, "I don''t want to be similar to someone else...if someone else is similar to me than its a different matter."


    ''Tsk, isn''t it the same?'' Mark thought, but he didn''t dare say it aloud. The young one before him was obviously stronger and here, what strong said would be law.


    "I understand what you mean and I think it makes a lot of sense now that you say it yourself. But I wanted to know whether it''ll affect my school or not...we''re going to have Magical Week starting today and I don''t want it to be ruined just like that," Mark said.


    "Hmmm...who are the girl''s parents?" Franz asked.


    Mark didn''t reply but slid his eyes looking at Tresa. She hesitated before saying, "She is an orphan...she doesn''t have any parents."


    "I see. Then, principal, you can leave everything to me. If that girl has no one backing her then no one would be these to blame the school...and that''s the end of the matter."


    "Joey, dispose of the girl''s body...she isn''t needed here anymore," Franz said.


    "Wait! What do you mean to dispose of her? Wouldn''t you need her body to search for clues on the killed? Why would you want to dispose of her?" Tresa said.


    "Searching her body won''t give away a jack and that''s a fact. We didn''t get anything that led to the killer from other bodies as well. So, why just pile up the dead bodies?" Franz said,


    "Even Trash is valuable in front of a dead body so why keep them and waste storage?"


    "What!?... If you don''t want to search the body then let me cremate her body." Tresa said.


    "What a clingy girl. We can''t have that. If word of this gets out then the school will be blamed and it seems our client doesn''t want it." Franz said as he looked at Mark.


    "Don''t you think so?"


    "Yes, dispose of her. If it affects the school''s reputation then we don''t need such a curse." Mark said.


    "Principal, what are you even saying? She was one of the Perfect and you are taking this as just a small issue and dispose of her just like that?" Tresa said with sadness filled eyes.


    "Even if she was a Royal, my decision would have been the same. I don''t care what I have to do...but I won''t let small matters like deaths drag the school''s reputation down." Mark said in a domineering.


    Auden who was listening to all of the conversations didn''t think it was something new. What he felt right then wasn''t sadness, not was it anger...what he felt was a pity for that girl whose friend was dead even though she had blamed it on him a while ago.


    ''She should already know that this is the current world we live in. The person with power decides everything. '' He thought as he looked at the girl''s pale face.


    ''Shocked? Why is she shocked now? Perhaps she only now noticed how the world works. Her life before now would have been like butter because of being a Perfect but now she has finally realized what it feels to be powerless. She realized the truth too late though...''


    ''The World has rotten and it stinks of people who are rotten to the core. Unlucky her to realize that too late.'' Auden sighed in his heart. The girl wouldn''t be able to change anything and he knew that. If she spoke even more then even she would be in trouble.


    "Alright, I accept." Franz sighed and said, "But I have a condition... even if you cremate her, don''t talk about her death in front of anybody."


    "You mean it?!" Tresa looked at Franz.


    "Of course, but you''ll have to fulfill that condition." He said.


    "Don''t worry I won''t tell a soul," Tresa said as she patted her chest.


    Her eyes were shining in happiness again for at least being able to cremate her friend, even if she couldn''t hold a proper funeral...that was enough.


    ''And she played right into his hands. Sigh~, from what I see... she''ll die next. It''s not only her who saw the corpse... so, it would only make sense that by killing her they would warn everyone and also show that her death wasn''t related to school...because if she has to cremate her friend then she''ll have to leave school''s vicinity, and that''s what Franz and the principal wants. She''ll be playing right into their ploy,'' Auden thought.


    This world has rotten for sure. He then looked at Tresa who looked happy from her heart and thought, ''Should I give her a heads up? But she accused me of killing her friend... should I really tell her?''


    He frowned and frowned and frowned... gritting his teeth, he said looking at Tresa,


    "Do you think that this matter is just over like that? After blaming me like that, you think you can just forget it...Girl, whoever you are..."


    "I challenge you to a duel!"


    Tresa shot a glance at Auden and sighed, "If that''s how you''re going to settle it then I would gladly comply. It was my fault after all...but don''t blame me for being ruthless afterward."


    "We''ll see," Auden said as he got out of the old building and walked towards the school arena.


    I can''t say it in front of everyone... that''s why I need a place where no one can hear us. What''s a more comfortable place than that soundproof glasses? But God, don''t let her beat the crap out of me first... I still want to participate in Magical Week.


    After entering one of the rooms, the glass cage sealed the room. An eerie silence filled the room before Tresa started punching her fist on the palm of her other hand.


    "I will let you know that you shouldn''t just challenge someone above you for no reason."


    "Wait...wait...calm down and hear me for what I have to say," Auden said with a tension-filled face.


    "What? What''s there to hear? You challenged me and that''s the end of it...prepare to be crippled." She said as she raised up her fist.


    "Well, I will tell you either way...then it''s up to you to decide," Auden said as he jumped back.


    ...


    Tresa after entering the arena hadn''t landed a single punch on Auden. The crowd was getting bored, especially Principal Mark who had been planning to organize the Magical Week after the duel. He was losing patience.


    Est also wanted to see Auden crippled but his eyes didn''t get the chance from start till the point.


    Doc. W was also losing patient...ugh, patience. He was looking more forward to the outcome of the duel but it didn''t seem like it was going to end very soon.


    Inside the room, both seemed to be talking but they couldn''t hear their words.


    "Won''t that just make me look bad...? What''s the point of it anyway?" Tresa said as she tried punching Auden.


    "Does it even matter in this case?" Auden said as he dodged another punch, "It''s for you to decide what to do... but don''t say that I didn''t warn you."


    "I see." Tresa said as she stopped throwing punches, "So, you are just trying to help me...or is there something that you want from me?"


    "Heh..." Auden grinned, "For the first time, you showed that you have got a mind. Of course, I wouldn''t just help anybody I come across. There''s one thing that I need of you to do..."


    Auden then told what he had in mind as Tresa grinned and said, "Eh...? Won''t you be trusting me too much on this one? Do you really think I won''t doublecross you?"


    "You won''t..." Auden said.


    "Oh? You''ve got some guts for trash to try to order me like that..." Tresa said.


    "Heh..." Auden then smiled and turned towards the speaker saying,


    "I admit my los-"


    "I lost!"


    But before Auden could admit his loss, Tresa admitted her loss in front of the speaker making Auden the winner of the duel. Auden was dumbfounded as he hadn''t expected it.


    He turned to Tresa and asked, "It won''t be your way of thanking me, would it?"


    "Nah...I did what seemed right. And I won''t be thanking you...you helped me...I help you and it''s all over." Tresa said as she walked out of the room after the glass case rose to leave Auden dumbfounded.


    "Tsk...I really can''t understand what''s goes inside other''s heads." Auden said as he too walked out.


    Principal Mark frowned listening to the result of the duel but it was only for a second. Tresa then walked to Franz sitting beside Principal Mark and said,


    "Sorry for being selfish before sir. The bond between her and me had blinded me before but I''m alright now. I''m ready to let go of her."


    "But I must also tell you something that the killer seemed doing something to the body before he threw it...so, if you''d like to then you can check it but I won''t force you. You can dispose of her as well. I too don''t want the school''s reputation to be dragged down because of her. I too want to participate in Magical Week."


    "So, I won''t be getting in your way and I won''t tell a single soul of this matter," Tresa said.


    "Haha...don''t know what made you change your mind but it seems you''ve come to your senses." Franz then looked at the two of his officers and said,


    "First thoroughly examine the corpse after taking her to the station and then if we don''t find anything, dispose of her."


    "Yes, sir!" Both of them said and walked outside the arena.


    "Thank you for honoring my words, sir. Now I''ll be taking my leave. It seems like sir Principal wants to announce something ."


    "Yeah...first gather every student to the gymnasium." Principal Mark said and left.


    "Yes, sir," Tresa said as she humbly went to the job she was asked to do.


    ***


    In but five minutes, every student gathered in the gymnasium as per the principal''s wishes.


    The students filled the room to every corner and in the stage was Mark with the microphone on his right hand.


    "Students, you''ve read, you''ve fought and you''ve helped build the school even better than before except for some worthless ones...Today, one of your friends has died, but you won''t be cowering in fear, would you?"


    "Officer Franz has already said to me that the killer doesn''t kill in the same place twice so you don''t have to lose your cool because of this incident."


    "You just do what you always do to grow strong. Her death wasn''t the school''s fault... it was her own fault for being weak. So, in this event push past your limits and grow strong than before. If you don''t want the same fate to haunt you, you''ll have to become strong. What do you say?"


    "Yeah!!!" The students shouted in unison except for Class D students and a Perfect who was gritting her teeth throughout the speech.


    "Push past your limits and grow stronger than your rivals in this event." Principal Mark said,


    "The Magical Week Begins From Today!"

 24 The Goal Is To Survive

    "The game we selected for this year''s Magical Week is ''Take or Leave''." Principal Mark said.


    "Take or Leave?"


    "What sort of game would that be?"


    "Is it gonna be some treasure hunt? Like taking the treasure and if we aren''t good enough, we should leave it be?"


    The audience was quite thrilled by the name of the game. Every year the game would change making it even more exciting. Last year, it was Tournament of Magical Basketball... and the students had too much fun in it...except some students of course.


    ''Take or Leave?'' Auden thought as he looked at Principal. He knew it wasn''t going to be something so easy like others were thinking it to be.


    ''Well, no matter what the game is, it''ll always end up being a fighting tournament and that was given because of every school trying to nurture strong. Last year''s game was also like that. Many students were crippled from the basketball...''


    But it''s my chance as well. If I score well on this Magical Week as a cripple then I''ll get a chance to enroll in good Magic school after this.


    Auden was a third-year student at Fret Academy and this year was his last. If he didn''t make his name heard this year then he wouldn''t even meet the requirements to apply to a new school as trash.


    Auden then breathed and calmed his heart.


    ''System, Open all the Mystery Boxes.'' He said in his mind.


    Ring~


    [Command noted.]


    [Opening all the Mystery boxes.]


    Ring~


    [The host has received 10 Attribute Points.]


    Ring~


    [The host has received nothing.]


    Ring~


    [The host has received the Basic Potion Formula of Alchemist Snooboo which restores the HP and relieves anyone who drinks it of his/her fatigue.]


    Auden was quite disheartened when he heard that he didn''t get anything from the second Mystery box because even a nail cutter was better than getting nothing but when he heard that he got the formula of some potion, his mood lightened up again. A smile formed in his face.


    Alchemy was practiced by low numbers of humans because not every human was capable of it. The talented ones were the only ones who were deemed worthy of learning Alchemy and the masters would only pass their knowledge of Alchemy to the ones who they deemed worthy.


    A person with Alchemy skill was considered even greater than the Royals with unique superpowers. Even the Royals would have to bow if they were to meet a low-class alchemist.


    Their skills were what humans needed if they wanted to survive in the Great Magic Era. The pills and potions they would provide could even cost millions and sometime even with millions on hand...no one would be able to buy it.


    That''s how powerful Alchemists were. If he were to sell just a simple formula of a simple potion to someone then he would become a millionaire in but a night. The formula of potion caught his eyes but he held his excitement and listened to the principal.


    Norr who had glanced at Auden with the corner of his eyes clenched his fist and made up his mind,


    ''No matter what sort of game it''ll be...I will cripple you at any cost.''


    "The game this time is suggested by Est of our school''s surveillance department." Mark said, "It''ll be seven days long."


    "And your goal is to survive!"


    "Survive?"


    The word made the audience confused but it was soon cleared by Mark as he took out two cubes like things from his pocket and showed it to the students after he put the microphone in the stand.


    "As you can see I have two cubes in my hands. But don''t mistake then for ordinary cubes... these cubes will determine whether you are on top or bottom. The cubes in my hands are currently glowing in blue light but it won''t always glow in blue. For example at a time when you push the button on the side of the cube."


    Click~


    When Mark pressed the button, a beam of blue light emerged out of one cube and fell upon another cube making it glow in red.


    "Like you just saw...when you make a beam of light from one cube to hit another, it''ll glow red. And this is what determines victors and trash."


    "These cubes will be given to every student and they would have to wear them on their hand at any cost. If someone doesn''t wear it then he/she will be disqualified from the game. If you make other''s cube turn red with your own then you''ll receive one point for each cube which will later help us position you."


    "But here''s the catch, for the cube to turn red it''ll have to leave the touch of its owners...if not, it''ll never glow red and winner will not get any points," Mark said.


    "Also if a student gets defeated after defeating many other students then his/her points wouldn''t go to the winner. One cube can provide only one point and you cannot steal the owner''s previous earnings. And the area for the game...the border for this game isn''t limited to school only this year, we''ve already gotten permission from the authority so this year..."


    "The whole city will be the area for our game. Hill or Forest, it doesn''t matter...what matters is that you don''t cause a commotion in public and that''ll do."


    "With that said, I will like to tell you that...Even if you have to steal, fight or cripple your fellow students for the point then do it because as the name of the game suggests, ''If you can''t take...then leave''."


    "The 50 students with lower points at the end of the seventh day will be expelled from the school ruining their future forever...So, do your best." Mark said as he started walking out of the stage,


    "After getting the cube you''ll be in the game after half a minute. After all, you''ll need to be prepared."


    While the Royals and Prefects and others were excited from the announcement, the same thing couldn''t be said for other Class D students whose face were robbed of their colors.


    Auden after taking the cube found out that the cubes were like watches. His cube immediately wrapped around his right hand the moment he kept it above it.


    Remi seeing Auden taking the cube asked, "Would you like to team up? If we team up then there are more chances of us weak not getting expelled from the Academy."


    Auden though ignored her words and turned his feet running out of the gymnasium at full speed. In but fifteen seconds, he was out of the school but he still ran far away and didn''t plan on stopping his feet at any moment.


    Gasping for his breath, he would occasionally glance back to check if someone was following him.


    "Damn! That Est bastard...he must have planned this to take revenge on me."


    "And other Class D students teaming up? Where are their brains? Can''t they see that if they just sit there then whether they teamed up or not...they will just be a sitting target? What''s easier than stealing points from a weak?"


    "Hah...I am running out of breath already? Gotta catch my breath somewhere safe." He then analyzed the surroundings and soon found a place to hide.


    "Hah...that bridge will do for a while."


    Auden hastily ran towards the bridge in front of him and hid below it.


    *Gasp* *Gasp* *Gasp*


    He had been running for a while and his heart was beating very furiously after the non-stop run. Just as he was thinking about what to do after he caught his breath, he heard footsteps that were closing in on him.


    "Hahaha...looks like a free point for me." A voice pierced his ears from behind.

 25 Mech Vs. Auden

    He immediately turned his face looking at the person behind him. In front of him was also a student of Fret Academy who was wearing a red uniform.


    From his attire, he looked like a Perfect of Fret Academy and meeting him at that time was the worst possible scenario for him.


    ''Did he follow me...?'' Auden thought, ''No, that''s not possible. I watched my back all the way so there''s no way that he followed me here.''


    ''So, it means that he was hiding here and I came right into his jaws. The situation cannot get any worse.''


    His heart was still taking time to calm itself and seeing an opponent in front of him already made his heart sank.


    Looks like the whole world doesn''t want me to win.


    "You are trash, aren''t you? Why don''t you just hand over the cube and we can just let it go...after all, I''m not fond of wasting energy by beating a weak."


    "If you don''t want to then it is fine as well. I know how to beat someone as well. So, don''t make me do it the hard way." Mech said punching his palm.


    "Well, brother Perfect I would have loved to give it to you; my points I mean...," Auden said as he took a defensive stance, "But today I feel like I shouldn''t hand it over to just anyone that shows. Of course, I don''t want my future to be ruined because of this...so, bring it on, and as the rule goes..."


    "THE WINNER TAKES ALL!"


    "Hahaha, you sure are funny for trash...you actually think you can beat me?" Mech laughed.


    BAM~


    But just as he was becoming more and more arrogant, a kick slapped Mech''s face making his face kiss the ground.


    Auden looked at the fallen Mech and said, "If it concerns my future then brother...I don''t joke."


    Auden grinned and tried to stomp Mech wasting no time but Mech rolled as he dodged the feet and stood up. Wiping his face, he glared at Auden.


    "That kick took me by surprise. For a person without any magic, you sure are agile."


    "Hah...I''m not power fed like you guys who don''t work out after being able to use magic...fatty," Auden said.


    Mech''s face turned red in anger. It was the first time someone had called him fatty. Even his parents who spoiled him by giving all his favorite foods hadn''t insulted him for being a fatso...and now trash was insulting him?


    He couldn''t just hold it in. Taking in a deep breath, he just stood in his position like some statue. Auden looking at the Mech''s weird behavior was on his guard but no matter how much he stared, Mech just stood still.


    "Now, try attacking, you trash. Today I''ll make you regret that you were even born!" Mech said.


    ''Eh? Is that some sort of form for the preparation of a counter-attack?'' Auden thought as he looked at Mech.


    He would have liked to wait and study more before attacking but he didn''t have much time. This was a competition of survival...and weak were the ones who were most vulnerable this time around.


    If he were to drag the battle any further then it wouldn''t be any surprise if he were to become a sandwich between two students. But he couldn''t just recklessly attack his opponent as well, after all, his opponent was a Perfect.


    He courageously moved his right leg hitting the face of Mech again who stood still.


    *Ting*


    "Ahh-" He gritted his teeth and bear the pain that surged through his kick. After realizing what had happened, he retreated a few steps back.


    His leg was still shaking because of the impact.


    "This feeling... it felt like I just kicked a steel wall."


    " Hahaha, that''s the face I want to see. This me has the power to harden myself like steel and with that strength of yours, you won''t be able to do anything. It would be nothing for a Royal to break through but for trash like you...I''m an invincible fortress." Mech said.


    Mech then leaped towards Auden with a closed fist and threw a punch. Auden dodged it but just barely.


    ''That was fast for a fatty like him? But I still have one doubt...'' Auden thought.


    BAM~


    The punch hit the ground making cracks form in it like a web of a spider.


    "You dodged that, but next time you won''t be as lucky."


    Mech then jumped again throwing himself at Auden covering more length making Auden retreat back again and again. Auden didn''t even want to imagine being crushed by that steel body of Mech...it was definitely going to hurt too much.


    Auden hadn''t given up though. If he were to be scared of pain then how was he going to keep on moving forward? He was just waiting for the right moment.


    He was thinking while dodging which was making his moves even sloppier making some attacks that came at him graze his body.


    Just as he was dodging, Mech stopped on his feet and stood still again. If someone were to stand still in a battle then they would just end up becoming punching bag if they didn''t have anything to counter their opponent but Auden couldn''t say so in Mech''s case.


    Mech was proud of his defense and was definitely arrogant because of it. If Auden were to use his Cat Form then it wouldn''t have taken too much time but Auden didn''t want to reveal his secret yet. It was his trump card after all.


    If he wanted to defeat Mech then he would have to take it easy and be patient. But the problem was...there was no time to waste.


    Auden took a breather to calm himself and think quietly while Mech still stood silently.


    ''What can I use to defeat him? As the saying goes...if one wants to defeat someone then they would have to pass through the defenses.'' Auden immediately shook his head.


    It sounded quite nice to think of shattering his opponent''s pride by breaking through his defenses...but what his opponent specialized was on defenses and with his current strength, he couldn''t do anything.


    ''Wait! Strength?'' Auden suddenly had a realization.


    He still had his Attribute Points from the Mystery Box. He then grinned and said in his mind, ''Allot 5 Attribute Points to Strength.''


    Ring~


    [Allotting 5 Attribute Points to Strength.]


    [Allotment Completed.]


    [Strength: 18]


    Auden without wasting any moment clenched his fist and punched Mech who stood still right at his face. Mech''s face caved in as his head was pushed aside.


    "Heh...it might work this way," Auden said.


    Mech''s eyes widened from shock. He clearly knew that Auden didn''t have such strength just a moment ago...then how?


    ''Did he hide his strength to test the water? Not bad for trash...but I didn''t show my full power as well.''


    A grin appeared in his face as Mech looked at Auden and took in a deep breath as he gestured Auden to do his worse with a mocking look.


    Auden clearly realized that Mech wasn''t taunting him. Even if Mech was He wasn''t just going to fall for it. He then clenched his fist attacked Mech and after hitting he immediately retreated back after testing it.


    Like he had thought, Mech''s body was harder than before. He then with suspicious eyes looked at Mech as if having doubt about something.


    He had his suspicion on Mech but still, he didn''t know if what he was thinking was correct.


    He then said, "Fatty, is this the best defense you have? If this is your best then just give up or the next attack will knock you unconscious."


    He was trying to make Mech angry so that he could test how much strong actually was. And Mech took the bait.


    "Fatty...?" He breathed out and again took in a deep breath to the point his lungs were on the verge of bursting. He then stood still without even moving a millimeter and glanced at Auden,


    "Let''s see what your next attack can do?!"


    "Heh..." Auden smiled.


    ''Allot 5 Attribution Points to Strength.''


    Ring~


    [Allotting 5 Attribute Points to Strength.]


    [Allotment Completed.]


    [Strength: 23]


    BAM~


    Without waiting any further, he kicked Mech right at the gut making him fall right on his butt as he coughed.


    ''What? He was hiding his strength at that time as well?'' Mech had a surprised look on his face.


    But Auden wasn''t happy about making a Perfect looking at him like that. His suspicion was cleared from the last kick which made him feel pathetic.


    He looking at himself thought, ''I''m still weak.''


    He then looked at fallen Mech with cold eyes and said,


    "Why are you imposing to be a Perfect? From what I have discovered... You''re clearly a Talent."


    Mech''s eyes widened even more. Auden laughed as he said, "Hahaha, sorry that was a silly question. Of course, it was to intimidate weak ones and score easy points."


    Auden then cracked his fingers looking at Mech, "I will make you realize that you clearly deceived the wrong person...and also there are no trash people in this world."


    Auden was suspicious of Mech from the very start because he knew that no Perfect would be that easy to handle and being able to knock a Perfect in his full power after increasing his strength just by 10 Attribute Points confirmed his suspicion.

 26 A Mysterious Superhero Appears

    BAM! BAM! BAM!


    Auden''s punches didn''t stop till he made the mess of Mech''s face. Mech couldn''t even tell what was happening. The next second he dropped in the ground, barrages of pus face making him unable to even speak.


    His defense was solid but little did Mech knew that Auden''s strength would only increase as the fight dragged on. And it was also because of his arrogance that he lost.


    Finally, when Auden stopped beating him, he slowly moved his lips with blood flowing out of it.


    "I...Lost ...to...a...Cough ~ Cough~ Tras-"


    BAM~


    With that last kick right on the face, Mech''s eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness.


    "As I told you, there are no such things as trash in this world. There are only weak and strong." Auden said.


    He then took off the cube from Mech''s hand and pressed the side button of his own cube. As the blue ray of his cube fell upon another cube, Mech''s cube turned red and his cube rung in a mechanical voice.


    "Point +1"


    "Total Point: 1"


    ''Oh? So, it records the points like that.'' Auden was amazed by the fact. He then gave a last glance to the Mech unconscious on the ground and left the place.


    He was curious to know how the Academy would recover the body of unconscious Mech after getting defeated but didn''t stay there any longer for the fear that he might expose his position.


    "So, do anything to grab the points means I can do anything as well, huh? I thought wearing a uniform to deceive others would attract several consequences but it seems that it''s allowed in this situation." He mumbled to himself.


    "Should I wear a Royal uniform of my father from his younger days to trick others? No, that won''t do anything if others don''t buy it. After all, I don''t have any magic."


    "Then what should I do? If there''s something that would let me use my Cat Form during this week then I can use it. But what?" He mumbled as no thoughts crossed his mind.


    Just as he reached his house, he saw Froy with the pouch of blood on his mouth. Auden smiled and without saying anything he took the pouch and drank all the blood. Wiping his mouth he said,


    "Froy, I need you to do something for me again. Would you like to help me with that?"


    "Of course, anything I can help with," Froy said.


    "You are too familiar with the city and the areas inside it right?" Auden asked.


    "Well, not entirely..." Froy replied, "If I were to brag about it then I know about ninety-five percent of the city. But for the rest five percent, I haven''t gone there."


    "Hmmm..." Auden frowned.


    "Ninety-five percent will do as well. I want you to keep an eye on the city and deliver the information related to any fights between students. But keep in mind that fight must only be between two...if there''s a third one then look for another fight. Do you think you can do it?"


    "That''s simple, boss. I have to deliver the location of the students engaged in fights to you and only two students should be fighting. It''s very easy if I were to say so. I will do it in the name of three smoked fishes." Froy said patting his chest.


    "If you deliver some good information then you''ll get five," Auden replied.


    "Yes, now I''m motivated even more. Just leave it to me." Froy said as he jumped on the roof of one of the houses and left the place.


    Auden smiled and entered the house. He was quite sure about his theory and knew that no one would attack him in his house.


    The speech clearly said that no harm must be brought to public property or something, so the home was clearly going to be the safe point. The Academy must have taken that into consideration... if not then why did they organize the event?


    Auden entered his house just because of that. He wanted to first buy a skill before he went out to fight others.


    Auden then sat in the couch and said,


    "System, open the Cat Shop."


    Ring~


    [Cat Shop has been selected. The host can now see the items and skills available in the shop.]


    [Skill: Unruly Strength] (4500 CP)


    [Skill: Despair] (200 CP)


    [Item: Cat Food] (20 CP)


    [Attachment: Poison Nails] (100 CP)


    --Scroll down to see more.


    Another skill was added to the Cat Shop. Auden was dumbfounded by its cost.


    "4500? That''s too high."


    He had been saving CP for purchasing the skill which was the only skill available in the shop before but it wasn''t the case anymore. There was another skill before his eyes and much too his surprise, there might be more.


    He then asked the system, "Is there any skill that the system would want to recommend to current me?"


    Ring~


    [If the host is asking for recommendations then the system would like to present these two which are very suitable for the current host.]


    [Skill: Swim] (50 CP)


    Ring~


    [So, would the host like to buy these two things which the system recommended? Please select your choice.]


    [Yes/ Absolutely Yes.]


    Pfffff~


    Auden was literally about to throw blood when he saw that. The system was on it again. The soul of the seller was making its demand. But Auden didn''t like the idea to buy them without knowing anything about them.


    He would first analyze what they would actually do and buy it. So, he looked at the upper right corner where the cross mark to quit the window should have been.


    "This..." Auden was speechless.


    The mark which would usually be used to quit the window was replaced by [Buy].


    He sighed as he looked at the screen, "Before buying it, first explain what they do and how are they better for me? Are they better than the Skill: Despair I wanted to buy before?"


    Ring~


    [Then the system will answer first.]


    [Since the host is CatMan, he hates water the most... to the point he would only bath once every two weeks or once a month. Skill: Swim is a passive skill that allows the host to not be afraid of water anymore and will be of great help to host while crossing rivers and ponds. Of course, it teaches the how-to host to swim as well which the host before becoming CatMan didn''t know.]


    [The modification: Paws is the second version of the paws. The first version was the normal version with no effects but the modified version can absorb any sort of physical attacks and Repel it on host''s wish to Repel it.]


    [As for how the modification is great than the Skill: Despair then the system would like to explain that the skill works with the use of aura. The aura of the host is currently too weak so the skill cannot be used against the people stronger than the host, but the modified paws, however, repel any physical attack there is.]


    [The system has already explained the Skill and modification.]


    Ring~


    [The system thanks to the host for his patronage. The CP has been deducted as per the cost of the things the host bought.]


    [Total CP: 26]


    [Modifying the paws to ver.2]


    [Modification Complete. The host can now use the effects of the paws.]


    Auden was robbed by the system again. But it didn''t make him too mad as the modification he heard of seemed quite useful...no, very useful actually.


    "The modification seems very useful. But can it not absorb and reflect magical attacks? If it could then this paw could become super useful."


    Ring~


    [The paw could do that as well but currently, it cannot because of the host not being able to use magic. If the paw absorbed magic then it would only hurt the host instead of benefitting him. So, if the system were to summarize it then the system didn''t add the effect to Absorb and Repel magic in this version because of the host having a broken vessel.]


    [But if the host would like to have it then the host must increase the level so that the system would be able to heal the body of the host and make him able to use magic. After the host learns to use magic, the system will add the effect in ver.3]


    "I see."


    He then said, "Open human shop!"


    Ring~


    [Human shop has been selected. The host can now see the items and skills available in the human shop.]


    [Item: Aere (Sword)] (50000 CP)


    [Item: Health Potion] (30 CP)


    [Skill: Flash Steps] (100 CP)


    [Item: Money] (100 dollars for 1 CP)


    [Item: Huy (Sword)] (30000 CP)


    -Scroll down for more


    Auden was flabbergasted by the items and their prices. 50000 CP for a sword? What was it made from? A diamond? He squinted his eyes for the hope of searching the items or something that might be useful for him but the prices were just too high and all the items were out of his reach.


    With but 26 CP, he could buy nothing in the human shop other than the money and he clearly didn''t have any interest in it. Who the heck would be so much of an idiot to buy money using his hard-earned CP? He clearly wouldn''t.


    But he was curious as to know why the price of one sword was even higher than the CP he needed for his evolution.


    "Why is ''Aere'' and that ''Huy'' sword too expensive?" He asked.


    Ring~


    [The reason behind that is simple. ''Aere'' and ''Huy'' are the weapons that could be considered as national treasures because of their ability. Aere is the finest sword and also the last weapon crafted by the Mad Blacksmith before he died. Huy is also the creation of Mad Blacksmith but it isn''t too great compared to Aere so the price of Huy is a little cheaper than Aere.]


    "I see. So, its because it has some weird ability. Then who is the Mad Blacksmith guy that crafted these swords." He asked as he wanted to know as who was the person that was able to craft such powerful weapons.


    If these could be national treasures and in ''Great Magic Era'' nonetheless then the blacksmith must have been one heck of a person.


    Ring~


    [The system apologizes as it cannot answer to that question. The answer to that question is currently locked because of the host''s level.]


    "Host level? The system wouldn''t answer if I don''t reach the level required to get the answer?" His curiosity was on its peak but no matter how many times he asked, the result was the same. He couldn''t get anything out of the system.


    "Whatever...I at least got something that can be useful for a fight." He mumbled, "Let''s test the new modification first."


    He stood up from the couch and stretched his hands. He then went to his room and pulled out what seemed like a black suitcase from below the bed. Opening the box, a smile appeared on his face.


    "Boss, I''ve got one location." Froy''s voice came from the terrace making Auden smile even more.


    "Right on time." He mumbled.


    ***


    In front of an abandoned building, two students dressed in black were fighting each other one on one. Both of them seemed to be having a hard time dealing with each other but for the sake of a point and the future, they were fighting each other with all their might.


    "Looks like it''s time for me to make my appearance," Auden said as he looked at the match between the Talents which was about to conclude very soon.


    "Yes, boss," Froy said.


    Just as Auden saw that conclusion was near, Auden revealed himself to the two of the Talents fighting each other.


    "You two there. Listen to me, fighting is bad." He said.


    Both of the Talents immediately turned to the source of the voice and squinted their eyes looking at Auden.


    "Who are you? And why are you hiding your face behind that mask?" Both of them asked at the same time.


    "Who? Me?" Auden grinned behind the mask he wore and said, "If I were to say who I am then it would reveal something I don''t want to reveal. But I will tell you this, I am weak-" Auden immediately shook his head, "No, I mean I''m the protector of the weak, a mysterious superhero. You may know me as..."


    "CATMAN!"

 27 Who? Me?

    Both of the students laughed looking at Auden.


    "Hahaha, CatMan? What the heck is that? What are you even saying and wearing that goat mask? It''s just too funny."


    "Yeah man, you''re just too funny to even look at. That black clothing with that flashy black cape was fine but why the heck are you wearing that goat mask?"


    "Hmmm... Good question. Alright, I''ll tell you." Auden said, "But let me ask a quick question first."


    "What''s worse than fighting right now?"


    "Killing?"


    "Murder?"


    "Both of them are the same...but that''s not the answer. What''s worse right now...is your situation." Auden said.


    Both of the students were alerted and looked at Auden with a cold glance in their eyes. They were ready to strike at any moment and seeing them take a defensive position, Auden grinned.


    "That caught your attention, didn''t it? Nyahahahaha," Auden taunted the two students using his hand as if asking to do their worst.


    "Were you trying to trigger us? If yes, then congratulations, you have made us angry." One of the students said as he looked at another and nodded.


    Both of them leaped towards Auden simultaneously one with a punch and another with a kick. But Auden dodged those attacks effortlessly and catching the leg of one student, he threw it back.


    "Is that it? Well, it''s not like I''m disappointed because I waited till both of you got tired. Stealing Points also requires patience after all."


    "Use magic or your future is doomed," Auden said.


    Both of the students gritted their teeth and only attacked physically which was easily dodged by Auden over and over. He was getting bored with all the attacks which were coming at him only to be dodged.


    "Did you guys run out of Mana or something?" Auden sighed, "Guess it can''t be helped. You''re just Talents and fighting till you got tired might have robbed you of your Mana. Just blame your fate for getting robbed today."


    He then easily got in the middle of the students and gave a good chop right on their neck making their eyes roll back.


    "That was boring...I didn''t even get the chance to use my special modified paws." Auden said as he took off their cubes.


    "Points +1"


    "Points +1"


    Getting the points, he looked at Froy and said, "Where is next?"


    "Boss, I still don''t know the next place. My cat mates are looking for the next fight and they will notify me after they find one." Froy answered.


    Just as Froy said that a dog brown in color with some black spots in his back ran towards Auden and Froy.


    "Leader, the crows are at it again. They are circling around our base and are trying to take our territory." The dog said.


    "What? The crows are doing what? And in my absence nonetheless." Froy said with an angry look.


    The dog and Froy talked with each other for some time and the only thing that left the dog''s mouth was problems and more problems.


    Froy finally looked at Auden after finishing the talk with the dog and said, "Boss, my cat mate says that our base is under attack...and not only that, a new cat that no one had seen in the neighborhood in the past proposed white kitty. Unforgivable."


    "So, boss, I might not be able to help you again after this for some days. I want to teach that bastard who the boss of this area is, is that okay?" Froy said with his eyes literally on fire.


    "L...N...Fine, " Auden said, "Just do what you want. I will figure something out by myself."


    Auden was surprised by what he was hearing. A cat mate? But wasn''t that a dog? And what was more surprising was that the dog was from that time when Froy introduced him as a monster. Why was that mad dog calling Froy his leader?


    Froy then again talked with the dog and turned to Auden saying, "Boss, this member of my base says that there was a fight in the D-block of Viesa street in front of another abandoned building."


    Froy said and left the place with the dog.


    Auden just looked Froy leaving and sighed. "Guess I am on my own for some time."


    The reason for him asking Froy to help him was because of a simple thing called trust. Trust was something that everyone would need for someone to follow them. Froy followed him because Froy trusted him, but the same thing couldn''t be said for every animal and pet.


    If the animals didn''t trust you then no matter how much you try, they won''t just hand over the information...even if you could talk with them and understand them. And no pets would just trust a random stranger and give them the information they wanted.


    Worst case scenario, he would be barked off or be bitten by the animals instead of getting any information out of them. And he hadn''t talked with any other animals or pets from the neighborhood except for Froy so there was going to be several trust issues which he didn''t want.


    When Auden arrived at the place Froy mentioned, he sighed in disappointment. Even if there had been a battle before, there was a chance that the battle was already over and what greeted him at that moment was exactly that.


    The place was empty and was filled with silence and it seemed that even the unconscious body of the student who lost was already retrieved. He could even hear his own heartbeat because of the silence that covered the area.


    Auden was disappointed but he hadn''t lost hope.


    There will be many other chances. He thought comforting himself.


    "Excuse me, can I get some of your time?" A voice rang from his back alarming Auden.


    Not again...I let my guard down. He immediately jumped forward as he turned back looking at the person who called him from behind.


    ''Who is he?'' After getting a clear look at the person''s face, he still couldn''t figure out who the person was. ''He is not wearing a uniform and doesn''t have a cube in his hand either. Is he not one of the students?''


    The person then smiled and said, "There''s no need to be on guard against me. I''m not a student of your school and not here to beat you for a point."


    "If you aren''t here to attack me...then why do you know of the point system and about the battle?" Auden asked cautiously.


    "Well, one of my family members attends the same school as you and I met with that family member of mine just some time ago. So, I pretty much know what''s happening in the school and the cube in your hand is a dead giveaway that you attend Fret Academy." The person said.


    "Then why are you here?" Auden asked.


    "Well, that is..." The person slid his hand into his pants pocket and took out a photo showing it to Auden.


    "Actually, I''m looking for this guy named Auden."


    Auden was confused seeing his own picture shown to him. Who was this guy? Why was he searching for him? Auden thought as he clearly hadn''t met this guy in his entire life.


    "Do you know him?" The person asked looking at Auden who stood silently looking at the picture.


    Do I know him? Of course, I know myself. Since Auden was wearing a goat mask, the person couldn''t see Auden''s face and that was what led to the person asking Auden such silly question.


    "I do know him, but..." Auden said.


    "But what?"


    "But why are you searching for him. What do you need from him?" Auden asked?


    "That I cannot say because of the orders given to me. But can you tell me where I can find him, I have work to do." The person said.


    Auden shook his head and said, "Since I don''t know your motives, I can''t tell you where he is."


    "I see." He sighed and turned away, "That can''t be helped since I''m in strict order to not reveal anything about it. Sorry to have wasted your time."


    "Wait..." Auden said.


    Auden didn''t know the person who was searching for him but he didn''t want some random person stalking him. The best way to get rid of the stalker was to contact Peace Officers, so he wanted to have some contact information on the person.


    "What? You changed your mind?" The person asked.


    "Not actually...but if I met Auden then I will tell him about you. But if he wants to contact you after I tell him about you then how am I going to have him contact you and I don''t know your name either." Auden said.


    "I see." He took out a card from his pocket and handed it to Auden and turned to leave again, "There''s my number if he wants to contact me. And as for my name, he still doesn''t know me but tell him anyway."


    "My name is Licht Park."

 28 A Simple Mission

    Licht Park?


    Never heard of him!


    Auden watched as Licht''s shadow vanished from his sight and clutched the number card.


    "I can''t have him stalking me when I''m trying to be sneaky and all."


    ***


    Finally asking for the Peace Officer''s help to get rid of the stalker, he roamed around the city searching for the next easy points but it was harder than he thought.


    The city was just too big.


    "Where the hell are all of the students hiding? Just have a flashy battle already."


    He was walking for six hours straight with his eyes like a vulture eying each and every corner but no battle crossed his glance. He finally decided to end it for a day.


    Of course, just earning one point would mean that he could avoid failing because not everyone would have a point, but what he wanted was to create an identity.


    The only thing he needed was an impact. The impact that would amaze the whole school. If he wasn''t recognized as one who was capable of achieving such feat then he could just kiss his entering a large school goodbye.


    He finally decided on trying something that was on his mind for some time.


    "Yes, Let''s try to enter one of the superhero organization and..."


    "Hey system, isn''t there something like a hidden quest or something just like in videogames from which I can earn more CP?"


    Ring~


    [There is.]


    "Then will I get something good if I subconsciously complete a hidden quest?"


    [As a matter of fact, the host will really get something good if he completes a hidden quest.]


    "System, I have another question for you."


    [Yes.]


    "Can I create my own quest and prepare a reward for myself?"


    [...]


    "Is the question weird?"


    Ring~


    [Till now the system has learned many things about the host. Like how he is weak and how he has a weird brain. This system wants to ask the host about the way he sees everything. Is everything okay? Does the host feel something odd inside his brain?]


    "Is that a no?" Auden asked hesitantly.


    Ring~


    [It''s not impossible. It''s viable if the system were to say in simple terms.]


    "It''s possible?" Auden was flabbergasted as he had only asked that question on a whim.


    Since it was possible, he was going to show no mercy.


    "Create a hidden quest where I need to choose a mission from a superhero organization successfully. And the prize will be...um, since it''s just a trial, let''s make it 100,000 CP." He said.


    [Command noted. The quest has been created.]


    Since the system really created a quest, Auden wanted to check if it had indeed been created as soon as possible. He then walked around searching for a superhero organization in which he had more possibility of joining.


    If he just randomly went to a superhero organization and it turned out that the criteria for him to enter were higher than he thought then it would be all for naught. For accepting a mission from a superhero organization, one would have to first take an entrance exam just to join the organization, so he had to be extra careful about choosing an organization.


    Finally, he found an organization that might take him in. The organization''s name was ''Advent''.


    Except for the nameplate which was tilted and the shaggy building which gave one a feeling like it was a place for some crime scene, everything seemed okay.


    After he entered, he was greeted with a view as any other superhero organization. A reception desk at the left corner of the room and a mission board at the right wall. Not to mention, an old man who seemed to be just a step away from death was the receptionist.


    "What do you want young boy? A candy?" The old man said as he stood up from the chair and walked to Auden.


    "No, I want to take a test for joining this organization," Auden replied humbly.


    Although it had completely hurt his expectations of being led by a female receptionist to the exam site like in any big organization, he still wanted to join an organization.


    "Sigh~ Why did I even expect the kid to be normal? A goat mask and flashy outfit, you''re also a hot-blooded young man, aren''t you?" The old man said,


    "I guess I will give you the test. But answer me this, why are you planning on becoming a superhero?"


    "Why? Of course, I want to help people, that''s why." Auden immediately said.


    Auden wanted to level up as well as he wanted to complete the daily quest that was pending and was waiting to be completed. So, if he joined an organization, he could use the missions to go out hunting lower rank demon beasts to level up.


    "Hehe, you''re one cheeky brat, aren''t you? But I like the kids like you. Hot-blooded and the mentality to help people although you don''t have any magical affinity," The old man led Auden to the mission board and said, "Choose any one of them."


    "Any...one? Wait, why are you taking me to the mission board right away? Shouldn''t you first take a test?" Auden asked.


    "This is the test." The old man replied.


    "Young man, we don''t take in anyone who isn''t worthy of being taken. So, if you want to join this organization, prove your worth. Prove that you''re suitable to become a superhero that can help people in the times of need by choosing one of the missions."


    "Eh...? So, if I want to join the organization then I will first have to ace one of these missions?" He asked.


    "Indeed," The old man nodded.


    "Then..." Auden happily searched for one of the easy missions to complete the hidden quest as fast as he could.


    "Yes, I''ll take this." He said as he pointed his index finger at one of the missions.


    "Hmmm," The old man stroked his beard and asked, "Young Man, are you sure you want this quest? It''s quite hard for a newbie like you."


    "What''s so hard about finding a flower?"


    "Not a flower, a green flower." The old man said.


    "Old man, you sound stupid. Leaves are green, not flowers."


    "Just keep quiet if you don''t know anything about the matter alright. A green flower Hydrax is usually used in alchemy for the purpose of creating medicine. If you want to find the flower then you''ll have to venture outside the city because it is only found in demon beasts. It grows in the shell of turtle demon beast known as Magma which loves to be around volcanoes."


    "I see." Auden nodded and immediately took back his hand from the mission board.


    He didn''t want a mission where he had to leave the city after all he still had to gather more points in Magical Week.


    He searched through the entire mission board and didn''t find anything that suited his needs. He then with a disappointed face looked at the old man and asked,


    "Isn''t there any simple mission where I can help people as well as I don''t have to leave the city at the same time?"


    "You can''t complete any of these missions? Well, forgive me for having high expectations. But don''t worry, I have the newest mission that came to my organization just this morning." The old said as he took out some files from the drawer of the reception desk.


    "What do you think of this mission of catching the phantom killer?"


    "Is that the serial killer who is terrorizing the city these days?" Auden asked.


    "Right on point. I didn''t know that the information was leaked to the general public. But if you know what you will be doing then it is fine." The old man said as he handed about six papers to Auden.


    "It exactly matches your needs. The serial killer is in the city. It''s a simple mission as well."


    "Simple mission? That serial killer has been killing Royals and Perfects, and you think that this is a simple mission?" Auden said.


    "Killing doesn''t matter. I didn''t ask you to fight that killer. Your test is to find the identity of the serial killer and report it to Peace Officers. It''s pretty simple right?" The old man said.


    "Only finding the identity of the killer and leaving the rest of the matter for the Peace Officers to handle..." Auden frowned for some time before he finally said,


    "It''s doable. Alright, I''ll accept this mission."

 29 A New Ques

    He was tapping his feet and was waiting for someone who had called him and asked of him to wait there. His back had almost gone sore from leaning on the wall of an alleyway which was covered in moss.


    "He''s got nerves making me stand here for an entire hour. And, standing here was fine as well if these trashes weren''t stinking too much."


    "Ah, are you Licht Park?"


    A peace officer wearing blue glasses asked from the entrance of the alleyway.


    Licht furrowed his brows and looked at the peace officer, "You''re not the Auden guy, are you?"


    "Hmm... peace officer? Did I do something to catch your attention?" He asked.


    "A complaint was filed by a boy saying that you''ve been following him with some hidden motives. I would like you to follow me to the station." The officer said as he walked to Licht.


    "Oh? Someone filed a complaint against me?" Licht took out a photograph from his pants pocket and showed it to the officer.


    "Was it this guy? or someone else?"


    "I can''t tell you that. Just follow me to the station." The officer said.


    "I see," Licht sighed, "Thank you for the offer but I would like to pass."


    As he said that, he put back the photograph and took out some cash from his pocket and stretched out his hands to the officer.


    "How about we settle the matter in a peaceful way?"


    "Hahahaha," Duse laughed, "Are you trying to bribe an officer like me upfront?"


    "No, it''s not a bribe. It''s just a small gift from me to you to leave the matter. You know you won''t benefit anything from capturing me...just take this and leave the matter to rest."


    "I am an honorable officer. I won''t accept such thing up front." Duse said as he turned his back to Licht.


    "Just slide it inside the back pocket of my pants."


    "Haha, you''re pretty reasonable as well," Licht said as he slid the cash into Officer''s pocket.


    "There is nothing to gain even if I am able to capture you since it is my duty. So, why shouldn''t I accept easy money for just dropping the matter and taking my feet out of it?"


    "Right?" Licht nodded and agreed with a smile.


    That''s not it...That''s not it at all. I won''t just accept the bribe from some random stalker. He has more to him than he let other knows. At first, I thought of him as some random trash without any magic since no mana was entering his body but as soon I got close to him, the glasses were alerted.


    These blue glasses are given to new peace officers without any experience to detect mana. It is mostly used to distinguish the enemies to engage and enemies to avoid. But the glasses didn''t trigger first when I looked at him...but as I got closer I felt an unknown pressure with malicious intent as if hinting that I would be killed if I take another step.


    The pressure I felt was only for a brief moment but it was enough to trigger the glasses. But he is trash who can''t even use magic. So, what was that pressure? Did it come from something he has with him?


    He might seem like a simple boy without any magic to back him up, but based on the pressure I felt I can tell that...


    This smiling bastard is dangerous.


    "Then I will be going now," Licht said.


    "Wait a minute..." Duse said, "Can I just ask you why you''re following the person in the picture?"


    "I can''t tell you. I''ve been asked not to discuss this matter with anyone except this Auden guy. Oh, yeah...and if you know this Auden guy, can you give me his address? It''s very hard to search for one guy in this a little bit big city," Licht asked.


    "Unfortunately, I don''t have his address." Duse shook his head.


    "That''s a bummer. I guess I''ll go then. Let us never meet again." Licht said as he walked out of the alleyway.


    Seeing Licht vanish from his field of vision, he deeply sighed. "Finally...he''s gone. But..."


    He gritted his teeth, "I''ve never been humiliated in such a way in my entire life. In but a single case, I took a bribe from someone...I even had to bow before some trash who couldn''t even use magic."


    "Just because he possessed something dangerous, I had to fear him...a trash. I will make it even with you for this humiliation...just you wait....trash."


    ***


    Ring~


    [Hidden Quest: Choose A Mission From A Superhero Organization (Completed).


    100,000 CP has been rewarded to the host. The host can claim it from the mailbox.]


    Hearing the ring inside his mind, Auden grinned like a greedy fox. The feeling that dwelled inside his heart was impossible to describe.


    The old man smiled and looked at grinning Auden, "Are you sure that you''re fine accepting this mission? Because even finding the identity of the phantom killer is a work on its own and you sound like it is easy for you."


    "I make it sound easy? Don''t say that. That''s a phantom killer, you know. I will only try to uncover the identity and nothing more." Auden replied.


    "Even if you are only trying to uncover the identity, it''s possible that you might have to face off with him." The old man grinned.


    "I said I won''t face the guy...and that''s the end of it." Auden solemnly replied.


    "Haha, you better not go back on your words otherwise Peace Officers will have another body on their hands to dispose of." The old man laughed and walk towards his desk taking out a file from the drawer.


    "If you really want to take this mission then here''s the file regarding all the murders that killer has committed including the locations and the contact info of the victim''s family members."


    Auden only blinked before taking the file from the old man''s hands.


    "I am not that good at solving crime mysteries but I''ll try my best." He said.


    "And also, is there a time limit to this mission? I mean there must be some time limit if it is going to be a test right?"


    "Hoho, you''re right. Considering the latest killing and the note the killer has left. The time limit will be seven days. You have to uncover the identity of the killer before he kills another person and report it to the Peace Officers." The old man said.


    "And if the murder does happen before I uncover the killer''s identity then I fail the test?"


    "Yes, that''s right."


    "It sounds easy but I know it is going to end up pretty bothersome even if I only try to uncover the killer''s identity. But difficult though it is, I will try my best...and I must praise you for being up to date with the recent killing and the note as well, old man. You''re impressive." Auden said.


    "Of course, who do you think I am. If I want to then I can just uncover the identity of the killer right now without even moving." The old man said.


    "Oh? You can?" Auden said as if shocked.


    But deep down he just shrugged off what the old man said as nothing but a bluff. If he could uncover the identity without even moving then why didn''t he do it? It could have saved some lives...but not to hurt old man''s feelings so much, he played along.


    "Ok then, I''ll be going now old man," Auden said as he walked towards the door.


    "Haha, be careful young detective." The old man bid him farewell with his waving hands.


    Right after walking out of the door, Auden heard the voice inside his head.


    Ring~


    [A Quest Has Been Issued.]


    [Uncover the identity of the serial killer that has recently been terrorizing the city.


    Rewards: 100 CP and an Advanced Mystery Box.]


    Auden smiled and started walking towards the direction of his house.


    The old man returned back to sitting in his rocking chair and sighed.


    "He sure has vigor like his father when he was young. Even with that broken vessel of his, he accepted the mission which makes me think if he has some hidden card...or he is just an idiot like his father."


    Even I wouldn''t have recognized him with that mask on his face if not for the pendant on him. The pendant he stole from me and gave it to his son on his fifth birthday is still on the kid''s neck. I can''t believe it.


    Haha, kids sure grow fast.


    "Well...," The old man''s face turned grim as his smile disappeared, "Let''s just hope that he doesn''t end up like his father."

 30 What The System Thinks

    Slowly entering his house, he turned on the lights illuminating the room. Afternoon though it was, the curtains were covering the windows of his house letting no rays inside.


    Closing the door, he unmasked himself and kept the goat mask on the shelve where one would usually keep shoes.


    The room that laid in front of his eyes was quite big as it could fit three couches, a dining table surrounded by four chairs, a cupboard, an 82 inches television hanging on the wall and many other furniture... and even that would leave quite a big space for about twelve people to sleep side by side.


    He sat on the couch, relaxing and making himself comfortable, he sighed deeply.


    "Damn, it isn''t easy as I had thought it would be. Only 3 points? It seems I have to work hard just to locate the students and right when he is needed, Froy isn''t here."


    "Anyway..." His lips slowly curled up, bending to the point that he seemed like an evil demon king himself grinning over his own plan to take over the world.


    "System, Open the mailbox."


    Ring~


    As the words left his mouth, a screen hovering in the air appeared in front of his eyes.


    Auden had thought about the distraction the screen could create for him in the midst of some grisly situation so he had asked the system to change one function some days after getting his hands on the system. The information screen wouldn''t be in front of his eyes every time and would only appear in front of him if he thought about it or used his voice to issue a command or when he completed some quest issued by the system or completed the achievements.


    He slowly moved his eyes to the upper part of the screen as his heart jump happily when he saw the message about the quest reward on it.


    "Accept the reward."


    Ring~


    [The reward has been accepted.]


    He immediately closed the mailbox and checked the amount of CP he had in total, but there seemed to be no change. The amount hadn''t even gone up by one.


    [Total CP: 26]


    What? Did some error occur? or Is the system glitching?


    His smile disappeared and a displeased look followed.


    "System, did you make some kind of mistake? Even though I claimed rewards...it seems the total no. of CP I have didn''t change."


    Ring~


    [Negative. The system didn''t make any mistake whatsoever.]


    "If you didn''t make any mistake then where are my hard-earned CP? Where is the reward I earned from the hidden quest?"


    Ring~


    [It''s hidden.]


    "Hidden? You''ve got to be kidding me. Are you pulling some prank or something?"


    [Affirmative. The system played a prank on the host. There is no such thing as a free meal, so the host must work hard to earn CP.]


    "What?" Auden exclaimed with a surprised tone for a moment, but he slowly calmed himself.


    "It has literally been a year and I know better than anyone how hard it is to obtain CP...what did I even expect?"


    He was disappointed, yes, but didn''t take it to heart because it was his greed that had taken the best of him. And it was also his fault for leaving the Human function as it is. If he had just turned off the function then there might have been a case that his request to create the quest would have been upright denied.


    Basically, he was pranked because of his overthinking and his ignorance...there was nothing more to it. He wanted to laugh but the sadness of not being able to get the CP was choking it down.


    He then asked, "System, what do you think of me?"


    Ring~


    [That was an unforeseen question. Um...Eh...The system doesn''t know how to tackle it.]


    [Can the host be more specific about the question?]


    "I just want to know what you think of me? I mean being the system of a boy who tries to overthink everything must be pretty annoying right? Since you now have human feelings and all." Auden solemnly said.


    "Actually, I''ve been thinking for a while... not for a while, it''s been about two months, I guess. I have been thinking that did I, a trash with broken vessel deserve such power. I mean, I haven''t done something that could actually be called some heroic task."


    "I just pretend to be a wannabe hero, who only helps others just for his own sake. Sometimes I get arrogant and suffer from near-death situations. So, when I think about it, I always wonder that if it was someone else with the power, that person could''ve done something I couldn''t even dream of. Do you think that it was good that I got this system?"


    "I want to know why you chose me when there are pretty powerful people out there who can do a thousand times better than me with the system."


    Ring~


    [Hmmm...if the system were to say it bluntly then it is an undeniable fact that if the system was in possession of some powerful person, he/she could''ve done a lot better than the current host.]


    [Even though they could have done better, there is no way of changing the past. The only thing that the host can do right now is to forge his path to the brighter future and get to a certain level if he wants to live his dream of using magic that is.]


    [And one fact remains the same. There is no such thing as a free meal. It wasn''t the creator of the system who chose the current host, nor it was the system itself. The host earned the system and there''s nothing more to it.]


    I earned the system? The words he heard inside his mind were completely unexpected.


    He knew he was powerless and the fact that he was chosen by the system was making him uncomfortable for some time. But hearing that he wasn''t chosen but he had earned the system made him completely dumbfounded.


    "Wait a minute? Does this mean, I wasn''t chosen but I earned it?"


    [Affirmative. So, the host doesn''t have to feel guilty.]


    So, I earned it. There is nothing more to it. There is no catch.


    "Then can I ask you that what did I actually do to earn the system?"


    [No.]


    "Wh...no, I won''t ask it. If you aren''t going to tell me then there is no point in asking it. But can you tell me more about the creator of the system you mentioned? I feel like the one who created such a system must be an overpowered person. Can you tell me about your creator?"


    He knew that if the system didn''t want to answer his question then he would only be wasting time. So, he asked another question.


    Ring~


    [Unfortunately, the system cannot answer that as well because the information is locked on the basis of the level. If the host wants to know more about the system''s creator then he must reach level 150 to unlock the information regarding the creator.]


    [Leaving that aside, the system will now answer another of the host''s questions.]


    [The system agrees on the fact that the host is helping others just for his benefit but also disagrees with the host saying that he hasn''t done anything after he started getting help from the system. He has helped many people even if it was for his own benefit... and the system also wants to say that getting help from the system doesn''t actually mean that the host has to grow stronger very fast.]


    [Strength can''t grow overnight, it needs time and battle experience to grow. So, rushing to level up might harm the host instead of benefitting him. That''s why Attribute Points are usually referred to as a double-edged sword. If the attributes aren''t well balanced, it will end up dragging the host down and the host will become nothing but a dull sword, which is a sword but can''t cut anything... even a paper.]


    [And the host said he hasn''t done anything fruitful with the help of the system is also false. Coincidence though it was, the host was able to save half the city when he entered the room of that mansion filled with the corpse of cats. The concentration of mana in that room was so rich that if unbalanced it could destroy half the city in an instant... but because the host entered the room, the explosion was limited only to that room.]


    [The host indirectly saved half a million lives if the system were to say so. And if the host is confused why the mana that could destroy half the city ended up destroying only the mansion then it was as White Tiger said, because of Life Barrier.]


    [And about the host character... The system finds it quite entertaining. The current host most of the time tries to think out of the box which is a plus point if compared to the previous hosts.]


    [Sometimes the host ends up teaching new things to the system itself. Like the inventory thing, even the system didn''t think that host could hide in the inventory. But the system has now removed the air and made the inventory so that no living being can stay inside it.]


    [And the idea of creating a quest by the host himself was quite unique as well. And the system found that it is possible for the host to create his own quest.]


    "Eh...I can create? Why didn''t I received any rewards then?" Auden asked as if confused.


    Ring~


    [That is because it is the host that created the quest. If the host creates a quest then it is up to the host to choose appropriate rewards, but the catch is that the host has to pay it from his own pocket. If the host wants 100,000 and if he doesn''t even have 100,000 to pay himself then there is no benefit of creating the quest.]


    [Simply, the host creating the quest for himself wouldn''t do anything. This function can be used for hosting tournaments or something where the host can issue a quest and the person who fulfills the criteria would get the reward which of course would be from the host''s pocket.]


    [Simply put, the system finds the current host quite amusing. The system will help the host grow stronger as before but it is up to the host if he wants to keep on getting stronger.]


    "Oh, so I saved so many people without even knowing, huh? It''s like I saved everyone from the shadows...then should I call myself ''Shadow Hero'' from now on?" Auden frowned with a serious look on his face.


    [...]


    [The host didn''t listen to what I said just now, did he? If the host doesn''t want to listen then don''t ask the system. Hmph.]


    "Haha, I was only thinking about something but I listened to everything you said. Quit acting like that and now tell me about the Advanced Mystery box. I had heard about it right after leaving the organization so I want to know about it." He said.


    [Hmph.]


    His lips twitched with another ring inside his head.


    "Ok, keep your secret. I will know about it after I uncover the identity of the serial killer anyway." Auden said.


    This human function of the system had more to it than he knew...and he realized it with many changing tones of the system. Since he had rested enough and had decided on leaving the matter of points to rest as well, he took out the file given by the old man of the organization from the inventory and opened it.


    "It''s time to get serious."