Arthur stepped into the bathroom to take his bath when the system lit up with a soft glow, followed by a crisp notification.

[New quest: earn 5 victories single handedly in the fight arena.]

[Quest rewards: 300 A.P, 3 random attribute points, 10,000 gold coins.]

'A new quest? And it's about fighting in the arena?' Arthur felt a pleasant jolt of surprise. He had not expected anything of the sort.

He wasn't planning to head toward any arena tonight. His destination was supposed to be a date with Gabriella…

Arthur's eyes slowly widened as another thought clicked into place.

'Wait. What if it isn't completely a date but… a fight in the arena?'

The idea left him stunned for a moment.

Still, speculation was pointless. The only way to know the truth was to get dressed and follow her to see exactly where she intended to take him.

Shaking his head, Arthur closed the system tab and stepped into the shower. The design looked almost identical to the advanced ones back on Earth, sleek lines and polished surfaces giving off a familiar feel.

Warm water trickled down his skin moments later, sliding across his shoulders and chest as he washed himself clean.

…

A few minutes passed before Arthur finished bathing. Once he stepped out, he wrapped a towel loosely around his waist and walked over to the cupboard.

With a perfect body that had only grown more impressive since arriving here, he felt no need to hide it or act shy.

Just as he had assumed, there were several clothes inside the cupboard. They looked like standard outfits for various academy related activities such as going into the city, training, or any other errands.

Each piece had the academy's emblem neatly engraved on it.

Arthur guessed it was a way to mark anyone wearing them as a student no matter what they were doing.

He took the training gear meant for tonight and began dressing under the watchful gazes of Gabriella and Nephis.

He could feel his blood roaring inside him from their attention, yet Arthur kept himself composed as best he could.

When he was done, he cast a casual glance toward Gabriella. She was lying on the bed with her hands tucked under her chin, watching him intently as if admiring a piece of art.

"I'm done."

"I can see that…" Gabriella rose from the bed and began readjusting her clothes. The movements carried a faint playful tease, enough to entrance him before the moment slipped away again.

"There's no need to bring your… girlfriend, right?"

Gabriella shot a cold sideways glance at Nephis, who gritted her teeth and flushed with embarrassment and irritation all at once.

Arthur smiled lightly then said, much to Nephis' disappointment, "She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh?" Gabriella narrowed her eyes a little.

"She's my third summon," Arthur said with a soft laugh, then explained, "The knight is the first, the fox the second, and she is the third."

Gabriella stared at Arthur as if he had grown a second head. The explanation sounded absurd even to her.

She remembered the reports from the instructor who handled the entrance examination and felt a brief frown tug at her expression before she smoothed it into a sweet smile.

"Your summons are quite unique."

"I guess so." Arthur brushed off the topic. He had no intention of revealing how terrifying those calamities truly were.

"Nephis, I can handle myself for now." His voice softened as he gave his summon a faint, apologetic smile.

"Yes, master. Feel free to summon me whenever you need me."

She placed a very deliberate emphasis on the words, causing Gabriella to narrow her eyes at the implied meaning.

Arthur noticed the sly smile on Nephis' face as he unsummoned her. Gabriella snorted and turned back to him.

"Can your summons be trusted?"

"Of course. With all my heart." Arthur dismissed the worry with another faint smile.

Gabriella's eyes flickered as she recalled the image of the three summons.

'Potential far above godhood, huh?' she mused, then led the way.

Surprisingly, as they walked, neither he nor Gabriella came across any other students.

"Are there hostels for the students of the other classes?"

"They have houses of their own inside unique dimensions within the academy," Gabriella replied calmly.

"Oh." Arthur nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you want one? I can arrange that."

"There's no need." He blinked, slightly stunned that she would offer such a thing.

"It won't inconvenience me," Gabriella said, brushing the topic aside after realizing he wasn't interested.

They continued walking down the quiet corridor. More than an hour passed after they left the academy's dormitory area.

Soon, Gabriella led him through a particular shortcut before they exited the academy grounds entirely.

"The academy has a lot of students. So the people of the city created this fight arena as a way for them to showcase their strength while also entertaining the public and keeping the thrill of battle alive."

"Oh?" Arthur felt genuinely impressed.

"You're going to fight, right?" Gabriella asked.

Arthur's mind returned to the system's quest. He nodded.

"I'll fight five battles tonight."

"There's a milestone reward for winning ten fights in a row. Then fifty and finally a hundred." Gabriella gave him a long look filled with an emotion he couldn't quite read.

"That sounds hard. No one should be able to win a hundred fights without losing, right?" Arthur felt it bordered on impossible. He could only imagine opponents growing stronger with every victory just to slow down the challenger.

"Well, someone passed the test easily."

"Who?" Arthur's surprise sharpened. Anyone who could clear such a trial had to be frighteningly strong.

"You'll find out soon enough…" Gabriella giggled but refused to answer.

They crossed several dark streets, the silence pressing around them. More than thirty minutes passed, and Arthur still had no idea where they were heading.

Eventually, they arrived at a large, lively area overflowing with people.

In the center stood a wide, thirty meter platform raised above the crowd. Two masked youths were battling fiercely on top of it.

Arthur studied them with curiosity. One fighter was a massive man built like a bull, his broad frame unmoving even as attacks slammed into him. The other was a middle aged swordsman whose blades lay shattered across the ground. None of them had managed to even scratch the muscular man.

As Arthur and Gabriella moved away from the arena toward something that resembled a registration station, he noticed the swordsman growing paler with each passing moment.

His mana was clearly running out.

"Take this," Gabriella said, tossing something toward him.

Arthur caught it and found a mask similar to the ones worn by the fighters. Unlike theirs, though, his looked more theatrical, like a clown or a painted performer rather than the animal themed designs everyone else used.

He thanked her and put it on.

The mask had long silver hair flowing behind it, and as it settled over his face he caught the soft scent of roses mixed with mint. A gentle warmth spread across his skin from the interior.

'Impressive,' Arthur thought.

"Register your name for five battles."

As soon as they reached the registration desk, Gabriella gave the instruction.

Arthur glanced at the booth and saw a middle aged man wearing a dark brown mask. A communication device sat in front of him, and aside from a few people waiting to give their details, he didn't seem too busy.

Arthur approached him and spoke calmly.

"I'll register for five battles in a row."

"Okay." The man didn't even blink. Some people came to sign up for ten battles or more.

He picked up the recording device, wrote something down, then asked, "What's your player level?"

Arthur coughed under the mask, feeling his face heat in embarrassment.

Finally, with a resigned sigh, he answered.

"Level 1."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.