A vast darkness...
That was all Evan could see at that moment.
"Why do I feel so empty? So lonely..." he sighed.
The deeper the boy sank into himself, the more the darkness drowned him.
"Who are you?" a voice echoed from within the darkness.
When Evan searched for the source of that voice, he could see a silhouette approaching. A boy with wheat-blond hair, golden eyes, wearing an academy uniform.
"Evan?" Evan's eyes widened as he realized who was standing in front of him.
"B-but... what the hell..."
However, the figure of Evan remained silent, staring at him coldly.
'Why am I feeling this fear when looking at this boy?' Evan thought.
Ever since he woke up inside Evan's body, Evan never really cared about what might have happened to the original owner. But now, standing face to face with the body that belonged to him... he couldn't stop thinking about it.
"P-please... help me-e..." that was the last thing the lonely figure of Evan said, before Evan woke up in shock.
"Uurg... uurg..." his breathing sounded heavy."What really happened there?..."
His entire body trembled uncontrollably, drenched in sweat.
As he rolled across the floor of his room, a translucent interface appeared above him.
{Synchronization Started}
--Completion Rate (1%)--
After almost half an hour of violently writhing, Evan's body finally began to calm down, as he slowly regained control of his breathing.
When he finally regained full awareness, Evan had no idea what could've happened... but one thing he was sure of.
Evan truly had something to do with all of this.
....
{Tuesday}
{Combat Principles – Instructor (Darius BrokeSharp)}
"Y-yeah... today is going to be one hell of a day..." Evan sighed.
Darius BrokeSharp, a former captain of the royal guard himself, was considered a true combat prodigy since childhood, having mastered most existing martial arts before the age of fourteen.
That young man's future seemed bright. At eighteen years old, Darius was already among the highest ranks of the army. But it took only one night to turn that man's life into hell.
During an expedition to the Ghost Lands, one of the most dangerous zones in Etherea, an expedition that lasted nearly two years... only Darius returned alive.
No one truly knew what happened during the time Darius spent on that expedition, but the only certainty was that he was nothing but a hollow shell of what he once was.
But unlike the rest of Etherea's population, Evan knew exactly what had happened.
'Just the fact that this man is alive... is already a miracle.'
As a devoted reader, Evan knew every detail of Darius's story. During that expedition, his group was brutally attacked... but not by an army.
A single demon had completely annihilated Darius's entire group.
Leaving only the poor man alive, while torturing him brutally for nearly two years...
Watching Darius enter the classroom, Evan couldn't help but feel pity for that man. Looking at those faces in front of him, while knowing all the suffering they had been through, and all the suffering they would still go through... it made Evan's stomach twist.
While most of the students talked about pointless things, a figure nearly 1.90 meters tall walked to the center of the room.
The man had gray hair, and a massive scar ran across his face from one end to the other. Unlike the other teachers, he wore a military uniform, with the academy's emblem on his chest.
The aura alone coming from that man was enough to dominate every young student in that room.
"I believe I don't need to introduce myself." the man's firm voice echoed through the room.
"As you already know, my classes are fully practical, so there's no point staying here inside this classroom."
The man said, as he guided everyone toward the academy's training zone.
As we walked, right behind me, I could feel Victor whispering something into my ear.
"Hey, dear Evan... that teacher is kind of scary, don't you think?" Victor whispered.
I simply nodded, saying:
"You haven't seen anything yet..."
After walking through the academy's long corridors, Darius led the students to an arena far away from the other zones.
That place existed specifically for practical combat classes. A highly reinforced area, built to withstand both physical and magical impacts.
Staring at the students with a severe look on his face, the man said:
"I want all of you to form pairs and practice combat simulations together. No mana usage at all."
The moment he announced the activity, everyone widened their eyes.
After about five minutes, all pairs had already been formed, chosen by the students themselves.
To Evan's misfortune, Victor had already anticipated his move, volunteering to be Evan's partner.
'This guy...' Evan sighed nervously, while paying attention to the other pairs.
In the original story, Victor's partner was supposed to be Mikael, being one of their first interactions.
But Evan's presence, whether he liked it or not, influenced a change in the script, altering Mikael's pairing.
At that moment, the rest of the main cast was gathered. All those characters Evan had followed for years were there, right in front of him.
Mikael was paired with Rose, one of the female heroines. The girl was part of the Crystal family, one of the few families capable of possessing secondary variations of elemental mana affinities, with Rose being able to manipulate ice.
Her long whitish hair with pink strands, along with her deep blue eyes, was truly breathtaking.
In another corner, following the story's pattern, Erick stood with his loyal lackey, Christian.
As Evan walked through the arena, he couldn't help but notice what was possibly the most antagonistic pair of all.
Karin RoughStone and Alexia BraveAxe.
Unlike Karin, who had a more serious and centered personality, Alexia could be described as the complete opposite: highly explosive and egocentric.
The moment Evan saw the girl with flame-colored hair and yellowish irises, he already knew who she was.
The last one to form a pair was Celine, who teamed up with some irrelevant boy from the story named Noah.
'Yeah... I'm really inside New Era.' Evan thought, observing the entire scene around him.
While he was completely distracted, watching the main cast, Evan was suddenly hit by a powerful kick to the back, sending him crashing against the arena wall.
"Aaghr!! That bastard!!" Evan growled, as Victor calmly walked toward him.
"Come on, dear Evan... you didn't think I was going to go easy on you, did you?" Victor asked, with his usual smile.
'So that's what you want, you bastard!'
Evan quickly got back up and charged at Victor at full speed, throwing a heavy cross punch.
But to his surprise, Victor dodged with ease.
"I think that was a little too slow, dear Evan." Victor replied.