"Thank you for visiting us and making a purchase." The woman smiled.
Alex felt as though something had been taken from him as he tapped the bracelet against a glowing white orb. And he truly felt the bracelet grow lighter, despite knowing it would not and should not weigh any less simply because some points had been deducted from him. Well, not just some points but a lot of points.
The lady then slid the sword he had purchased toward him across the counter. Alex gently grabbed the hilt and his eyelids twitched, the gnawing suspicion that he had been robbed and scammed in broad daylight creeped up on him.
Because the sword did not particularly look like it cost seven hundred and fifty thousand points. And to make matters worse, the sword was only of enchanted rank, though enchanted rank was one rank above mortal rank. Alex felt the price was far too steep for an enchanted sword, especially since the glove he had received from the gate had only given him a hundred thousand points in the first place. Though, some were even in million or two higher than the price of his sword, despite being an enchanted rank. But, it did not make him feel good.
Alex tried to keep his emotions from not showing on his face, not wanting the woman to think he felt cheated. Because he could not go back on his decision now that the purchase had been made, and the woman had asked for his explicit confirmation before proceeding with the transaction, so it was only better for him and his reputation as the heir of one of the grand ducal houses to not go back on the deal.
He tightened the hilt on his hand and swung the sword lightly downward in a vertical slash, and the blade instantly formed a small, dark, ghostly smoke-like light curling around its edge as it cut through the air.
He was momentarily so shocked and flabbergasted by the dark, fizzling light blooming along his blade that the sword almost slipped from his grip. Due to some luck or whatnot, he managed to tighten his hold on the handle at the last second.
He turned his head sharply toward the woman and she too seemed shocked by it. The light had already dimmed down completely as if it had never existed, and from the way the woman was staring at him with wide eyes, he knew he had not mistakenly imagined it either.
"Is this the effect of the sword or what?" Alex blurted out the question that was gnawing his mind.
The woman quickly composed herself, her face settling into a carefully neutral expression. "Perhaps you have received some skill recently and it is forming an aura on your sword," she answered calmly, though her eyes still carried the faintest trace of the shock that she had been unable to conceal.
Alex immediately got a flash of his skill in his mind. How could he forget something like that? Without saying another word, He quickly slid the sword into his dimensional space and then grabbed the scabbard that had come with it from the desk, tucking that away as well without a word.
Without waiting any further, he turned on his heel and started walking away. However, he had already caught the attention of the other students in the hall, and it seemed as though all of them were looking at him now, some openly and others more subtly. But the unmistakable fact was that everyone was watching him, whether they cared to hide it or not was another matter entirely.
Alex pushed the hall doors open and stepped outside. And the moment he had cleared the entrance, the murmurs began rising from behind him.
"What was that?"
"Isn't he level one? Then how the hell does he have a sword aura at level one?"
Alex did not linger to hear any more of it. He quickly dashed ahead, his mind already set on the training grounds where he could find a quiet corner and practice by himself.
However, he stopped mid-stride, then abruptly changed direction. He was going to practice his skill and the new sword in a private training place the princess had mentioned to him, where he could spend points to train alone in a sealed room away from prying eyes.
After running for a while without stopping, passing through clusters of students along the path and having to halt multiple times to ask for directions, he finally began closing in on his destination.
Though the princess had given him a general idea of where it was located, he had not fully memorized the route, so he had to rely on asking others along the way. Some of them seemed reluctant to associate with him, yet at the same time they appeared wary enough to answer him all the same. And so, after asking and navigating through the unfamiliar paths, he finally arrived at the Training Hall, which looked strikingly different from every other building on the campus. It had no spires, no dome, but rather a plain flat roof stretching over a multi-storey structure that, if he counted correctly, rose at least four floors high.
He entered through the grand entrance, which resembled the doorway of any other ordinary building on campus.
The moment he stepped inside, he was greeted by white crystalline floors and walls and ceilings that bore no paintings, no carvings, no designs of any sort, but were entirely and starkly plain. And adding to the already unusual layout, a long hallway stretched straight ahead, and lining both sides of it were rooms sealed behind heavy metal doors covered in rigid runes and patterns that he could make out even from a distance.
All of a sudden, someone tapped him on the back, and he spun around in a sharp half-circle, putting space between himself and the source of the tap, because he had not sensed anyone approaching him at all.
His fists had come up instinctively before him, and when he finally saw who it was, he slowly lowered them. The man standing in front of him was someone he recognized instantly.
"Sir Invigilator?" Alex muttered, eyeing the broad-shouldered man with short black hair and a scar running over his left eye, wearing a black and white suit that was crisply fitted to his muscular frame. The man was the invigilator for his class during the written entrance exam.
"What brings you here at this hour?" the man asked, glancing down at his wristwatch. "The academy schedule begins fairly soon."
Alex did not want to admit that he had completely forgotten about his classes, having become so absorbed in the prospect of properly testing his powers and sword aura as well as the new blade he had just acquired. So, he was unable to control himself from testing his new powers and had completely forgotten that he might be getting late for the classes.
Alex nervously scratched his cheek. "I heard from... others that I can practice alone in private here," he answered finally, watching as the man's dark eyes grew just slightly more imposing.
The man let out a quiet sigh and softened. "You still have an hour or so. I can allow you thirty minutes to practice," he said, then moved swiftly toward a desk tucked into the corner of the entrance that Alex had not noticed at all, likely because of the way it was positioned, almost as if it had been placed there deliberately to avoid drawing attention.
"Tell me your name and make a payment," the man said, pulling out a wooden-covered register before continuing, "We have multiple types of training rooms available for first years. The prices vary by the type and the facilities each one provides."
Alex walked over to the desk and stopped before it, listening carefully.
"What is the cheapest one?" Alex asked. He was down to only three hundred and fifty thousand points after paying for the sword and selling the glove.
The man's right eye twitched faintly as his gaze drifted to Alex's golden bracelet, though he composed himself quickly, much like the woman from the exchange hall had.
Alex almost felt embarrassed for asking about the cheapest option while wearing a golden bracelet. The man must have surely thought it strange, given that only three students from each year were issued golden bracelets, and it likely did not sit right with the man because the previous students who wore them had probably opted for the more expensive rooms without a second thought if they too hadn't spent their points in buying weapons and other things. Well, if they hadn't bought something expensive they still would have left with more points than Alex because even Lara who was placed third had received 3 million points. While he had only received one million.
"The cheapest room costs five thousand points for half an hour," the man replied flatly.
Alex let out a quiet sigh of relief and brushed at his temples despite no sweat being there.
He had braced himself for something outrageously expensive, the way the sword had been, because even though the exchange hall carried swords in the hundred-thousand-point range similar to the sell value of his glove, he had deliberately not gone for them and rather opted for the more expensive one that fell within his budget.
Alex had done so because he wanted a sword that would last, and he had a match with Eldric coming up, so settling for a cheaper blade now would only force him to purchase a better one later anyway, rendering the cheaper purchase a waste in the end.
"I would recommend choosing a room priced at least ten thousand points for half an hour," the man added, and the relief Alex had felt just a moment ago quietly dissolved.
"What is wrong with the five-thousand one?" Alex asked at once.
***
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