I sat in the plane, eyes fixed on the window, just taking in the view. My sister sat opposite me in silence, staring at her tablet. I had no idea if she was actually reading or just doing it for the aesthetic. Technology is quite advanced in this world, but most of the effort has been funneled into weaponry because of the war.
I'm not sure how long we've been flying since I was asleep most of the time, but we should be arriving soon. Man, traveling from one continent to another is exhausting. I could have just used the portals, but I feel like this was my father's final effort to make me miserable before leaving. Portals used to be the frequent mode of transport for nobles and merchants, but that changed when the war started and labor shifted to the military. Mining was no longer a priority, so Mana Stones weren't as abundant as they used to be. Now, portals are reserved for emergencies or the obscenely rich, like my father. He clearly doesn't want to see me happy. He's lucky he's stronger, or—
"Are you listening to me?" my sister asked, pulling me out of my imagination.
I looked at her with a bored, slightly annoyed expression. Knowing I wasn't listening, she decided to repeat herself.
"There are almost no people your age who can match your power, except for the children of a few Monarchs and nobles. Most of them are at Rank 2, and you are almost halfway through the 4th Rank. You should still pay attention to them, though, since we don't know their specific abilities. You're already at a disadvantage because they'll be on guard, knowing you have two S-rank abilities. The good news is they don't know what your abilities are; they can only estimate the first one based on Father."
"What exactly is the old man's ability?" I asked, a little curious. Aside from training and him hurling insults at me, we've never really had a conversation.
"S-rank: Vajra Body," she explained. "After activating it, all his stats are greatly enhanced. Once he transforms, he becomes almost indestructible, with incredibly high resistance to physical and elemental attacks. He even has a resistance to curses. The longer he fights, the stronger he becomes. As long as he has Mana or stamina, he keeps adapting and growing. Keep in mind, when his stats increase, his Mana pool grows too. Trust me, little brother, they do not call him the 'Monarch of War' for nothing. And those are just the abilities the public knows about. As you know, abilities evolve as you rank up, so think about what Father might be hiding from the world."
Damn, the old man is that bad? It looked like my plans of beating him into the ground would have to be delayed until I was powerful enough to finish him in one strike—or until I had enough stamina to outlast him. From what I knew, starting at the Count rank, you have a...
"Are you lost in your thoughts again?" she sighed. I'm starting to think she does this just for the love of the game. "We're here. Let's go."
Why call it an academy? This was basically a city. How rich and bored do you need to be to build something like this? It's been a day since we arrived, and I'm currently walking to the testing area. They're basically just checking to see if you're "Corrupted" or not. There have been cases of them walking right into cities.
The tests went off without a hitch—I mean, come on, any intelligent Corrupted would know that walking into a place guarded by a Monarch is asking for a fate worse than death. We were gathered in a massive hall, waiting for someone to explain the rules and the type of exam we'd be taking. Most people were huddled in groups; I'm guessing they already knew each other. Thanks to the old man, I've never really interacted with people my own age.
Come to think of it, there are a lot of beautiful women in this world. Because of the energy they call Mana, people here are just gorgeous. Of course, I'm in a league of my own, but the women are splendid. What's concerning me is that even back home with all the female servants, I never felt this kind of temptation. Did the old man do something to me, or is it my Will stat?
I don't really think that's how it works, though. Otherwise, the Monarchs wouldn't behave like rats, breeding with every beautiful thing they lay eyes on.
"That's him... the one with two S-rank abilities. He's the son of the War Monarch."
I glanced in the direction of the voice to see some boys whispering and pointing at me. Now that I was paying attention, some of us were getting much more scrutiny than others. I decided to look around, trying to identify the people my sister had warned me about last night.