That sa evening, Lin was sitting at a table with Egro and Yulan, eating various dishes prepared by the academy for the students. They were in the academy cafeteria, where als were served daily and recent events were often discussed:
"I sohow managed to learn how to shoot a bow..." Yulan took a bite of bread and said.
Egro smiled and congratulated Yulan:
"That’s great. If you’ve already learned to shoot and use it, then soon you might be able to make Contact with it."
Yulan nodded quickly. She already knew about Weapon Contact from her teacher and the special place she needed to connect with her bow.
"So you both already know about Weapon Contact?" Lin looked at the two of them in surprise and asked.
Egro nodded quickly, and Yulan nodded too, just more slowly.
"Of course, a few months ago, when I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t able to make Contact with my spear. I went to Teacher Anthony and asked him, and he explained it all very clearly. And you didn’t know this whole ti? I thought you were training so hard because you couldn’t leave the academy to go to the special place needed to make Contact with your katana."
"I was surprised too. You’re so active in everything that I thought you already knew about Weapon Contact... Our teacher explained it to us from the very first lesson," Yulan looked at Lin with pity and sighed.
Lin looked closely at the two of them and saw no trace of lying on their faces. He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.
"It doesn’t matter anymore. In any case, I really do need to get out into nature — especially to a watery place — to make Contact with my katana. But the academy won’t allow that unless they announce we need to visit the Magic World for practice and to strengthen our learned skills. But in three months, that hasn’t happened once."
Egro nodded in agreent and added:
"Ha. It’s already been three months since we beca Awakened, but there’s no real sense of progress. And to be able to awaken an Echo of the Title, you need twenty Low Soul Shards, which can only be found in the Dead Worlds. And we’re not allowed near them."
Yulan nodded several tis and ate a chicken leg, saying:
"Yeah. I’ve trained with my ability a bit, but in these three months, it’s like I’ve completely figured it out... And to get more skills, you have to absorb more Soul Shards. Luckily, I don’t need twenty like you — just nineteen..."
A fla of mory instantly sparked within Lin. He suddenly rembered how three months ago, he had used the only Soul Shard he had to save Yulan from a Distortion. He did it so he wouldn’t lose sothing he had already "invested" in.
His expression nearly twisted from the mory, but he kept his face neutral and thought:
"What’s done is done. And even if I ended up in that situation again, I’d still use the Soul Shard to save Yulan. She’s beco much more valuable now... Haha. Yeah." Lin glanced subtly at the beautiful girl sitting across from him and smiled inwardly.
Egro showed surprise and asked:
"Wait, did you really get your hands on a Low Soul Shard?" He chuckled and said, "If it’s not a secret, where’d you get it? I’d go grab one too. Haha."
"Uh... well," Yulan looked at Lin, and Egro easily caught her gaze. He also looked at Lin and muttered:
"Lin gave you that Low Soul Shard?"
Yulan nodded and quietly said:
"When we were in the Magic World, I almost beca Distorted and turned into a monster. But Lin had a way to save — he used a Low Soul Shard that he got by killing countless wolves..."
Egro nodded and gave Lin a strange look, then smirked slightly and said:
"You’re really lucky, Yulan. Any girl would want sothing like that."
Yulan smiled and confird:
"I think so too. Anyone would want that."
As they spoke, a loud voice from a guy nearby rang out:
"Hey, the student rankings for September just dropped!"
"What? Where?"
"Hey, who’s in first place? Even though it’s only been a few days since September started, soone must already be at the top, right?"
Countless students instantly pulled out their devices and opened the academy’s special app, where they could see the rankings and their positions.
"Royal is in first place again!"
"Well, he’s always up there. That’s no surprise."
"Silia, you’re only in fifth," one girl sitting next to Silia showed her the tablet with the list.
Silia just nodded and returned to her al. She wasn’t particularly interested in the rankings — the rewards offered were far worse than what she received monthly anyway.
Lin and Egro also decided to check the new list and saw countless nas ranked at different levels.
"I’m in fifteenth," said Egro.
"I’m sixth," Lin simply said.
"And I’m one hundred and fifth..." Yulan said shyly.
"You still have a whole month to climb up, so don’t worry," Egro tried to comfort her.
"He’s right," added Lin.
Yulan smiled slightly.
Aran sat across from Royal and smirked:
"You’re in first place, I’m in second. Who’s better?"
"You’re so annoying... Why couldn’t the Mort family send soone better than you!" Royal looked at Aran with frustration and complained.
"Haha. Royal, don’t underestimate like that. I actually do my tasks quite well..."
"Then why are you sitting with instead of Silia?"
"Well, she’s a girl, and I get a little shy around them. You know, my hormones are acting up lately, so it’s better if I stay with you..." Aran lowered his gaze to his fingers, which he was nervously tapping together.
"Y-you..." Royal was speechless, unable to describe Aran, not wanting to ruin the carefully built image he had — not because of this madman.
He coldly snorted and resigned himself to the situation.
The whole cafeteria was buzzing with conversation, all kinds of voices mixing together into a single massive sound that stretched everywhere the students were.
In this chaos of sound, the calmly seated Lin felt the air grow heavy. It beca harder to breathe, and the usual calmness of the space started to withdraw — as if the air itself wanted to flee.
The air grew heavier.
The surrounding noise seed to vanish.
He looked at Egro and asked:
"Do you feel that too?"
Egro nodded.
Others in the room also sensed the shift, and the once-loud and chaotic atmosphere imdiately fell silent, many students frowning in concern.
"This air... Gates!" Royal instantly stood from his seat and rushed toward the exit, knowing that Gates could be opening in the cafeteria!
Aran also had a serious expression, stood up without a word, and dashed toward the exit!
Lin rembered a similar feeling — one he had already experienced before. It ant Gates were about to open nearby, and unleash a massacre!
He imdiately leapt over the table, grabbed Egro and Yulan by both hands, and ran for the exit!
But before anyone could escape the cafeteria, a series of massive explosions erupted around the room!
Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!
Dozens of Red Gates appeared in the cafeteria, completely surrounding it and blocking any chance to leave or enter!
Hell had begun...
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