While he waited impatiently outside the room, Scarabeo suddenly saw Evan walking out, holding a book in his hands.
"Looks like you finally chose something, rookie."
After spending a few minutes deciding which of the three manuals would be the most useful, Evan had already chosen his newest skill.
{Emperor's Command – Rarity (E)}
"I chose this one..." Evan showed Scarabeo the manual he had picked.
As Scarabeo examined the manual the boy had chosen, a thought echoed in his mind.
'This kid is really strange.'
"Alright, now get lost. I don't have all the time in the world for you." the man said rudely.
Still excited after receiving his first reward for completing a mission, Evan added the skill manual to his storage system.
'Better deal with this once I get back to the academy.'
...
After finally reaching his room at the academy, Evan was able to take out his skill manual.
"All I need is to resonate my mana over the manual..."
In New Era, learning a new skill from a manual was considered extremely practical. The user didn't need to read and reread it in order to learn the skill.
As soon as he completed the process, a new notification appeared in his status window.
-- Art --
Swordsmanship (G)
The most basic level of swordsmanship, lacking its own style and patterns.
-- Skills --
Combustion (D)
The user can generate sparks of fire with acetylene particles, being able to cause explosions through combustion.
Emperor's Command (E)
When activated, the opponent it is directed at receives a pressure, paralyzing them for 1.5 seconds.
Even though he had never used the skill before, it was as if Evan knew exactly how to activate it.
'This is absolutely insane.'
But even after acquiring a new skill, Evan still feared what would happen the next day, not only for the other students' safety, but for his own safety as well.
"How I wish I didn't know what would happen in this damn story..."
...
{09:07 – Monday, January 26th, 2087}
"I believe many of you are wondering who this man beside me is, and why we brought you to this place."
"This is instructor Edgar Hells, responsible for controlling the teleportation system to the academy's dungeons." Darius announced.
Among the other students, the one watching that scene with complete attention was none other than Evan.
'That damn bastard!'
Although Edgar had never personally taught any class to that group, due to his great influence within the academy, he possessed information about every student present there, including a mere commoner named Mikael.
Edgar had such a deranged mind that the simple fact that a commoner was studying in an academy of Last Hope's caliber was enough to drive him completely insane.
"I-it is a great pleasure to meet all of you. Although most of you have never seen me before, I know each and every one of you very well." the man said in a shy, trembling tone.
With his awkward appearance, messy grayish hair, and skin as pale as a ghost, Edgar didn't seem like a threat at all. Especially since his known rank was only C+, or so people believed.
Watching Edgar's little act, Evan looked around at the students beside him. Aside from the main group, most of them would barely survive the disasters within the academy.
'Damn...'
A feeling of helplessness took over Evan. Knowing that most of those young people beside him would probably not leave that academy alive, and the fact that he knew all of that, caused a huge conflict inside his mind.
"No more stalling. We brought you here for a hunting simulation. Inside this room, there are different teleportation devices connected to all the dungeons owned by the academy."
"To speed up the process, I personally divided all the groups, each formed by 5 students." instructor Darius said in a firm tone.
"But that's not fair! Why don't we form the groups ourselves?" one of the students questioned.
Staring at them coldly, Darius replied.
"Are you under the impression that this is some kind of game?... You should feel the weight of being in a place like this academy... You can't even imagine the dangers you'll see outside of here."
'It's the exact same speech he gave in the story...' Evan thought, silently watching.
After the lecture, Darius wrote each group on a panel displayed on the room's screens.
Looking at the groups, there were four in particular that caught Evan's attention.
'But why the hell is it different from the original story?'
Group 1
Mikael
Erick Silver
Giovanna Fundio
Pellistri Axeros
Mansis Astrellis
Group 2
Victor Maelstrom
Theobald Hugh
Alexia Brave
AxeSter Kielt
Mathieu Gerrard
Group 5
Karin RoughStone
Quelbert Itsan
Evan Thompson
Christian Yvar
Katherine Noxaris
Group 6
Celine WiseEarth
Rose Crystal
William Gabrin
Oscar Chivenos
Dean Caster
'The only groups that didn't change were groups 3, 4, and 7... Damn it! There's no way my mere presence in this class is what caused these changes.'
While Evan felt lost after the first major change in the plot since waking up in New Era, the students began gathering with their groups.
"WHY DO I HAVE TO JOIN THESE IDIOTS?!" Alexia shouted as she joined Victor and the others.
"Looks like I'll have to deal with a spoiled child." Victor shot back, while the others simply watched, completely nervous.
Meanwhile, in another corner, Mikael and Erick's group stood together, and the only one who actually tried to speak was Pellistri.
"Guys, what strategy are we using?"
"..."
While Erick remained isolated, leaning against the corner, Mikael and the others also stayed silent.
With his hands in his jacket pockets, Evan carefully observed the first interactions between Mikael and Erick.
'Those two are still going to give me a lot of trouble... Too bad I have other priorities right now.'
Evan's situation didn't seem much better compared to the other main characters.
'My group is seriously problematic. Having to deal with Karin at this point is going to be a pain... And to make it worse, there's that bastard Christian.'
Walking toward where his group members were, Evan chose to try getting along with them, at least during this evaluation.
'I seriously need to get along with them, especially Karin. I'm betting my own survival on her.' Evan thought anxiously.
When Christian noticed Evan walking toward him and the others, he immediately provoked the boy.
"Let's see... another piece of trash I'll have to carry in this exam." he said in a mocking tone.
Just as Evan was about to respond, Karin took the lead.
"I expect all of you to work together. I don't want to be held back because of you."
The girl's cold tone seemed to hit the group members directly. Even Christian knew the reputation of the powerful Roughstone family.
"That's right, everyone. We need to get along during this test. We don't know how hard it might be if we don't work together." Katherine added.
Evan, Quelbert, and Christian simply nodded in silence.
Looking at Quelbert, Evan wondered.
'I can't remember this guy... Ahh, I should stop overthinking. All I can do is try my best to keep anyone from dying beside me.'
Meanwhile, Darius, seeing that all the groups had already gathered, turned toward Edgar.
"I think it's time to begin."
Maintaining his fake smile, Edgar simply nodded as he walked toward the teleportation configuration panel.
'Damn brats... I won't tolerate mere hillbillies mixing with high-ranking people like me.'