Ten minutes later, the murmuring still hadn't died down. Eyes were still on the scoreboard as if it had malfunctioned.
By now, the eyes on Dean had reduced as well. Only Rogue still sneaked glances at him every now and then.
All the attention was on the one person who deserved it, and the one person he needed to talk to.
Von Vermith Astrea.
His plans to confront her had been thwarted, as several vampires, friends or companions of hers, flocked her side with congratulations.
The vampire in question didn't even look interested. Shrugging off their congratulations like achieving the number one spot with almost a thousand points was the easiest feat ever.
Dean at this point had crouched down, placed Ash on the floor and pretended like he was playing with the slime.
Meanwhile, he was staring at his host profile on the system screen, with his focus being what to do next to improve. His goal of reaching Elite rank was within only a few more steps away.
[OVERALL SYSTEM STATUS]
[Name: Dean Gray]
[Soul: Dean Faust]
[Age: 17]
[Race: Human]
[Summoner Rank: Aspirant - Tier 10]
[Attribute unlocked: Body of the Sage]
[Active Perks:]
- Hermit's Eye
- Sage's Circuit
[Experience points: 11,800]
[Inventory: Empty]
[SUMMONING STATUS]
[Summoning Skills - Channeling Lv 2]
[Permanent Skills/Abilities]:
- Rebound Core (Grade: C-A) ]
[Active Bonds— 3/3]
--
[Familiars]
[1- Wind Sprite]
[Class- Common - Mid]
[Skill: Gale Breath (E-grade) ]
[2- Earth Elemental]
[Classification: Common - Mid]
[Skill: Earth Tap (E-grade) ]
[3- Ash]
[Classification: Paradox- True Bond]
[Skill:
- IMU
- Free Form: Morph]
[Traits]
-Lesser adaptability
[Current Copy Slots [4/4]:
- Flight
- Impact Recoil
- Night Domain
- Volcanic Plating]
[Unique Skill]
- Eternal Imprint [Ash Bond] (1/1 slot)]
—
Dean stared at the screen and was ready to take the next step in his personal evolution.
'Rank up,'
The system screen went blank for a moment then an orange spinning gear appeared.
After a few seconds of the gear turning. Dean felt his mind drift off. His eyes spun as if the reach of his mind was being expanded and stretched indefinitely.
His inner body flared and this time he didn't feel a door opening but more like a wall breaking down somewhere inside of him.
His muscles tightened, his vision even without hermit's eyes became clearer.
It was as if he'd dropped a few hundred pounds but it wasn't from his body but his mind.
"So this is Elite," he whispered as he fell back from his crouching position and sat on the ground.
Ash watched him with no particular look on its face. This creature was an evolving and adapting machine but anything that had to do with actual sensations seemed odd to it.
Dean got this epiphany even as the system screen appeared again with orange texts symbolising his advancement.
[Congratulations]
[You've achieved lesser awakening.]
[New rank- Elite Tier - 1]
[ You have unlocked a new summoner skill]
[ Skill: Resonance Lv 1 ]
[ Total experience points left: 1800]
Dean felt like his mind wasn't his for about two seconds, before it all finally settled down as he looked at the screens.
'Hmm, from blue to orange huh'
He looked at the skill he'd unlocked even as he balled his gauntlet hands into fists, getting a feel of his body.
"Achoo!"
Dean's eyes moved in the direction of the sneeze instinctively.
Astrea had her pale fingers under her nose as she sniffed while raising her umbrella slightly to glance at Dean with those red eyes.
Everyone else looked away immediately, except Dean and Astrea's companion.
"Vampires sneeze now?" Dean whispered as he rolled his eyes.
He picked up Ash, placing it on his shoulder as he dusted his clothes and began walking towards Astrea.
He'd barely taken ten steps when Harlequin's voice came again. Louder and more urgent than ever.
"All participants…separate yourselves by your various districts."
She walked out from behind the podium as she gestured.
"Participants from the residential district, move to the right,"
Residential district was the fancy word for the slums in this world. It was the district closest to the walls and the most dangerous to live in.
Dean looked around as the participants began shuffling.
Harlequin continued as she gestured to the left.
"All participants from the commercial district move to the left."
Dean frowned.
'Why?'
The Gray family's house was in the commercial district which was basically the fancy word for the middle district.
This was where the middle-class families of this world lived and was basically the trading hub of the City of Zehra where guilds and other institutions were located.
Dean didn't need further convincing as he moved to the left alongside some others and in a matter of minutes about 60% of the population were standing to the right and the remaining 39% were on the left.
The remaining 1% was literally Astrea, who was handed a chair.
She sat with her black umbrella over her head. Her companion held it over her diligently.
After the separation. Harlequin continued with a much calmer tone as if she was trying to defuse something.
"All residential district participants would be escorted to the various arks around the city—"
Harlequin didn't even finish before murmuring began. Participants began looking at one another as their faces went from confusion to fear.
Arks weren't an everyday term in this world but it was a term that every one learned about from the day they learned to speak and walk.
Arks were practically like bunkers that people were evacuated to when the city got attacked and certain regions were considered unsafe.
But unlike your traditional bunkers. These Arks were actual Flux zones just like this.
They are safe zones that had been completely cleared by the military and guilds and now served as spots for the population, should the city get attacked.
"... Please we should all relax," Harlequin tried calming them down.
"Everyone stay calm. The WSA will keep you safe. Work with us."
Harlequin continued as she began gesturing the 60% towards a few carriages that were now arriving.
Dean turned toward her just like everybody else on the left.
"What about us?" he asked boldly.
"You all would be escorted to your homes." Harlequin finished.
"Hmmm," Dean muttered. If they were to be escorted home then the situation wasn't that bad.
Dean scanned the area and caught movement near the edge of the clearing.
Some WSA personnel moved into position, speaking into communication devices in low voices as they retrieved the gauger from each participant before they entered the assigned carriages.
He caught some of their words in short fragments.
"Wall's holding for now."
"How many?"
"Hundreds. Maybe thousands."
"Where's Leona?"
"On her way."
Dean's stomach tightened. Maybe he was wrong. If they needed a dragon then maybe this was worse than he thought.
This wasn't a drill.
'it was a wall breach'