Chapter 90: The Newcomer Divisions

Inside, the hall resembled an enormous auditorium, with thousands upon thousands of rows of seats stretching across the vast space.

At the very front stood an unusually tall dais shaped like a claw, although the platform above it was currently empty.

As Arlo scanned the hundreds of students, the System’s notification panel flickered before him once again.

[And why are you still willing to risk all of this just to improve your Cybernetic Transplant?]

[It’s no longer useful anymore. It has already done what it needed to do."]

’That’s only because I haven’t upgraded it yet.’

Arlo replied.

’Once I awaken more than five Cyber skills and fuse with a second and third core, you’ll see that even a god won’t be able to match me...’

Arlo thought, puffing out his chest slightly.

Disdainful laughter immediately boomed inside his head.

[Yes. A blind, deaf, stupid, dumb, and idiotic god, perhaps.]

"Hmph, you’ll see..."

"ARLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! OVER HERE!"

The voice was so loud that Arlo felt his ears ringing endlessly.

Turning toward the far distance, his eyes narrowed as he saw the horned figure waving at him from afar.

In the next instant, he climbed the steps, approaching the figure who was none other than Vael himself.

"OMG! You have grown a lot bigger. Are you sneaking into the cafeteria after school or what? Now you’re as tall as I am..." Vael yelled out as Arlo shrugged and smiled playfully.

"At least I’ll be saved from being called a shorty..."

"Hmph, don’t get too cocky."

Vael said shamelessly as they both took their seats amidst the hundreds of students present in the place.

"So tell me, how are you feeling? Can you feel your blood screaming within you, your heart loudly roaring for the miracle that is to come?"

"Perhaps, it will be a glorious battle to the death!"

Vael said, grabbing Arlo’s neck under one of his arms before slowly waving his second hand through the air as if depicting a grand scene.

Unfortunately, all Arlo saw was the opposite wall at the end.

"What battle to the death? It’s a simple mana test and perhaps a little sparring?" Arlo replied.

That was his hypothesis, and it made sense because that was one of the main areas they had been taught about and could actually be applied in a quest.

The majority of the other subjects were history and different arts that could only be used for mundane life activities.

So Arlo could already guess the area where they would all be tested.

"Hmph, a mana test and simple sparring. You have no idea at all, Arlo. There are some people here who would kill just to see the outside world once more."

"And there are some who would kill your entire bloodline, even the unborn ones, just to make sure they seize the rewards for performing well in the event, and some who would kill their own families just to acquire that Evolution Serum."

"This test is far from being a simple mana test and sparring. Your blind eyes and ignorant mind will be enlightened soon."

"Mark my wise words." Vael said, resulting in an eye roll from Arlo.

’Wise words, my butt.’

When he had first met Vael, he had thought the young man was a book-gnawing nerd, as he was one of the top five students in their class when it came to anything book-related.

But as the weeks passed and they grew more familiar, he realized the young man was just a loud, uncoachable chatterbox who was very shameless and incredibly envious of people better than him.

Yes, not just Arlo!

He had later learned that the horned guy was even jealous of Chris and Emrys for their strength.

Even the girl’s soft-looking pink lips couldn’t escape his jealous gaze.

He was definitely a true rare breed!

"Hmm, but isn’t it strange? I remember we are just 30 in our class, and the event is only for newcomers."

"Where did all these people come from?"

Arlo couldn’t help but ask with furrowed eyebrows, and the expected reply soon came, with a disdainful snort, of course.

"Idiot. Do you think we’re the only newcomers in the entire school?

"The newcomer classes in Cthulhu Academy are a total of five, distributed into Class A, B, C, D, and E, and a total of 30 newcomers fit into each of them."

"That makes the number of newcomers in Cthulhu Academy around 150, with some exceptions like you."

"Can’t believe you don’t know this. What have you been using that empty skull of yours for? Fantasizing about ladies, hmm? Hmmm." Vael said, winking at him, causing Arlo to push his face away.

"So out of A to E classes, which class is ours?" Arlo asked.

"The classes are based on the assessment of each student’s scores added together. It includes theoretical knowledge and also combat knowledge from each student in the class, and then that is ranked."

"So almost like a power hierarchy?"

Hael asked.

"Exactly. Class A is the most powerful class, possessing the strongest students, while Class E is the dumbest class, possessing the dumbest and weakest students."

"So can you guess which class we’re in?"

Vael asked him.

"I don’t know, maybe B?" He didn’t expect their class to be number one, but it was still, to him, very far from being the dumbest.

So if he were to be modest, he would go for B.

"You’re wrong. Not like I’m surprised, knowing well how dead your brain is..." Vael began as Arlo sighed. .

No matter how thick his skin was, it still stung sometimes to hear the hateful comments.

"Actually, our class is D."

"Just a step higher than the dumbest class!?" Arlo said with hollow eyes as Vael nodded.

"Yes. We might even be ranked as E if not for the presence of Chris and Emrys along with five other otherworldly geniuses who have kept our assessment score above the reach of Class E." Vael said as Arlo’s eyes narrowed.

"That’s disappointing. I expected better..."

"Idiot, don’t act like you’re not also a part of the class. But what I’m surprised about is the fact that we’re all put together in this room."

"I formerly thought those who partake in the test would be determined on each class basis, and we would be taking the test with those in our own class."

"But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. I think they’re going to match students from different classes against each other randomly."

"And do you know what that means?"

Vael said, this time with utmost seriousness as every bit of his playful aura faded away.

He had switched to his serious mode.

"I don’t know. What is it?" Arlo asked as Vael looked into the distance where a group was seated.

"Anyone matched with anybody from those classes sitting down there is already doomed to lose."

Vael’s warning came as a minor shock to Arlo, who furrowed his eyebrows and turned to look at the group sitting just across from them.

Unlike the rest of the class, they all sat together in a single open space, away from the remaining students, and they were incredibly quiet, not even making the slightest sound.

They were deathly silent, yet the smiles on their faces were something that could definitely be improved.

All of them wore the same grin as they looked at the other students. A grin that wasn’t particularly heartwarming to Arlo, though maybe it was just him.

"They seem more than prideful, don’t they? Look at the disdain in their eyes as they look at us as if we’re dogs." Vael whispered gently to him as Arlo creased his eyebrows.

"But why are you whispering?" he couldn’t help but ask.

"It’s said that they’re very strange. I’m afraid saying words out loud can be picked up by their ears. I would die of bullying if that happens, you know." Vael whispered to him as Arlo shook his head.

"Look at the red-horned guy in the middle. He’s looking directly at you."

Arlo whispered back to him as Vael slowly turned his head toward the group, and his face changed.

Not just a single person, there were a total of ten people among those in Class A currently staring at him with dead gazes, and Vael’s lips trembled from either fear or shock.

Arlo couldn’t really tell which.

But their gazes fleetingly lingered on him for only a few seconds before they turned away altogether.

"Fuck, I’m dead!!! I’m dead! They’re no doubt coming back for me!!" he said, his horns lighting up with a purple color, revealing his distress.

"Tch, if they’re as prideful as you say, why would they have time for you, a nerd and a coward who can only whisper behind their backs?"

"I’m pretty sure you aren’t the first person to whisper about them."

"They don’t even have time for you, hahahaha,"

Arlo replied to Vael, whose purple horns quieted down as he turned to look at the group, finding that they had continued discussing.

"Oh, that makes sense. But wait do you just kill me a... Arlo! You bastard!"

Vael screamed out at him, but suddenly, the entire hall grew quiet as the students all felt something strange and immediately turned their gazes upward toward the dais.

There were about 20 staff members dressed in official uniforms, led by a group of three individuals.

The second Arlo sight them, his spine went cold as every hair on his skin rose on end.

[Those three are very powerful. Be very careful!]