Alex went straight to the Dragonic Magic Academy after dealing with the issue about his little sister, he was certain that he would no longer go back to see his little sister with new bruises or in a dirty uniform.
Unlike the normal schools where students could come at 7 or 8 in the morning and still be considered early, the magic academy was different.
Alex met quite a number of people, despite how early he was, including teachers and students; of course, he got his daily dosage of disdainful glares from them, but Alex ignored them while promising to make them regret it in his mind.
He first went to the library where he worked to sign in for the day; considering the fact that classes won't start in a while, Alex took some books and began to read them on his counter.
This was the only benefit of working in the Academy's library aside from the payment he received, he could read whatever book he wanted without paying for a pass.
Alex read books till it was time for classes. Ignoring the notifications from the system, he packed his things and went to class.
Since he was in his fourth year and about to graduate, all their topics were mostly about magic fusion, characteristics, and battle tactics which didn't count for the system as reading books related to magic beasts or mana; besides, he wasn't reading by himself.
They spent hours going through various classes, and it was finally Noon; this was the last theory class that they would have.
The rest after this would be magic training and spell structuring which were useless to Alex (the previous Alex) since he was unable to use spells.
Alex did not deem it necessary to attend and shock them now; they might even accuse him of using an improper method to increase his strength.
He planned to go straight to his library after this; reading for the system's reward would be better than any guidance he would get from any teacher.
After teaching, instructor Christi, who was responsible for teaching the characteristics and behavior of magic beasts, asked the students to wait because she had an announcement to pass out.
Alex, who had already packed his things even before the end of the class, had to stay put in his seat.
"As you might all know, the all-star academy competition is coming up next month. To maintain fairness for those who wish to participate, instead of picking students who we think will perform best in the competition, the academy has decided to host a small competition between the students and select those who will enter the all-star academy competition from the winners.
This competition will begin next week, and you all can join to try your luck; registration will last until Wednesday next week. I wish you all the best." Instructor Christi said. She immediately took her things and left after saying that while the students went into an uproar.
After she left, the students began to discuss amongst themselves.
" We're in the final years of the academy, of course, we'll have most of the participants coming from our class,"
" But not everyone, I can't believe they are letting everyone register for it. I bet a certain useless person will still try to waste people's time,"
They did not bother hiding the fact that they were talking about Alex as they stared at him intently.
Alex ignored all these stares and left for the library, he had bigger plans and didn't have time to bother with these idiots.
On his way to the library, Alex bumped into someone.
"Ayooo, Alex! Come come, I got these nice meatball packets! They are on special sale at a store close to my house, so I managed to get some before they ran out; want some?" A joyful female voice streamed into Alex's ears as a figure approached him with playful steps.
Of course, how could Alex have forgotten about this person? After all, In every manga and anime that he had watched in his past life, the protagonist would always have a fat friend who would be their brother for life. Just that in Alex's case, he had a fat sister instead of a brother.
In front of Alex, a fat girl could be seen hopping over with small steps. Her big eyes shone with a glint of excitement, and in both of her hands were three packs of snacks each.
She approached Alex while waving them in the air.
Dressed in the uniform of the Dragonic Magic Academy and a dark blue cloak that represented the water element around her shoulders, Nora, the only friend that Alex had in the whole academy, came to a stop in front of him and stared at him right in his face.
"Hmm? Hmm? Want some?!" She asked cheekily while staring up at Alex. Since she was a head shorter than him, she had to bend her chubby neck just to see his face at such a close distance.
Alex looked at the round, chubby face of his only friend and could not help but laugh; she looked so adorable and comical with that starved expression.
"You sure you want to share with me?" Alex asked while laughing.
"Of course, what are friends for? But you can only have one!" Nora replied firmly and passed one of the six packets over to Alex.
Alex took it with a grin on his face. As expected, the memories about her were true; she was a foodie and it was already very generous of her to give one of these to Alex.
Maybe it was because she had five more.
"Going to the library?" Nora asked while her fingers skillfully opened one of the packets on the spot and she brought out a small round meatball and threw it into her mouth.
"Yeah, wanna come?" Alex nodded before asking while putting the packet in his bag.
"Nah, I have training," Nora replied and immediately escaped. She wasn't a fan of reading and so had no business with the library.
Alex stared at the quickly escaping back of his only friend with a gentle smile on his face, he knew that she didn't have training and was just too lazy to study.
"Well, having such a friend isn't that bad either," Alex thought to himself and continued to walk in the direction of the library.
Nora was from a middle-class family, and her family was able to provide different required resources for her growth. Unlike Alex, who was from a below-average family and still stuck at the Apprentice Mage rank, Nora was already a water mage at the Adept Mage rank.
But this did not stop them from being friends since their first year in the academy despite being in different classes, they had been very good friends for four years and passed through a lot of things together.
To put it in simple terms, they were both subjects of bullying.
Alex was bullied for his poor talent while Nora…was the popular food truck of the academy.
This had made their friendship grow even stronger and they got to enjoy the company of each other as the popular cow and trash duo.
Alex could not help laughing out loud when he recalled the memories of them, this caused the few students who were walking along the side to look at him like he had gone crazy. Alex obviously would not care to explain himself and just kept going till he reached the library.
Reaching the library, Alex immediately went inside and gathered more books before coming back to his counter to start reading.
Time passed swiftly, a few students came to use the library and Alex had to pause his reading to respond to them. These students would not fail to ridicule him when they saw him reading, they would also drop provocative remarks before entering the library to read.
Alex had to force himself to calm down; it took a lot not to strike these idiots with lightning.
Finally, it was closing hours and time for Alex to go home.
He had lost track of how many books he had read but he didn't need to count for the system.
[Mission completed! 5 exp]
[Mission completed! 5 exp]
[Mission completed…
Daily missions completed!
Read books about mana circulation 15/10
Read books about magic beasts 17/10
Reward: 160 exp!
[Weekly mission completed!]
Read books 32/10
Reward: 30 exp!
....
ALMIGHTY PATH SYSTEM (error)
Host: Alex Zoran
Level: 8
Exp for next level: 190/100(error)
Rank: Low stage, Core Mage rank
Elements: Space. Lightning
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Dual-element body: The host can use two elements.
Void Walk: The host can move through the void between two fixed locations (can not change directions midway) Distance depends on the strength of the host.
Aura Master: The host is able to mask his rank and show a fake rank(fake rank must be lower than true rank)
SPECIAL ITEMS:
All-knowing mask: The host has master-level appraisal knowledge, and can conceal himself from the prying of others.
Pendent of deterrence: The host can release the aura of a powerful mage from the pendent (the aura from the pendent will be two ranks higher than the target of the host!)
Indestructible Robe: A robe that can block a strike of anyone below the Sage stage.
...…
Alex looked at the amount of exp he had gotten from all the reading he had done in the library, he wasn't happy in the slightest.
"So little, reading here isn't nearly as good as reading at home," Alex sighed.
He knew that this was because he needed to attend to students who came to use the library, but the rate of getting exp was just too suffocating; he had to do something about this.
" I know what to do, I'll leave the current exp points I have for now," Alex said to himself while leaving the academy, he didn't level up the system yet and just left it like that.
" Yo! You're out!"
Alex heard Nora's voice from behind before he could move too far from the Academy's premises.