The echoes of footsteps filled the hallway of the Scarlet Palace. The steps only stopped before a huge, golden metallic door. The guards guarding the doors nodded at the man. With a loud, glorious creak, the doors opened by the guards. What welcomed the man behind the doors was a marvelous view of the palace garden, which was covered in snow.
"The snow seems to have diminished today."
Loryarc took steps outside, his burning blue eyes staring at the blue sky, which used to be covered by snow clouds all day.
"The is nearing, but I am..."
His eyes, however, were still clouded in worries.
"Broke..."
His shoulders, which were shielded from the cold wind of winter by his furred coat, slumped as he recalled the number of gold coins in his hands. He reached into his coat pockets, took out the last ten gold coins he had left.
"Kuh... Women are money sucker, indeed!" Loryarc howled as he bring his butt down to the chair of the gazebo, which builded at the center of the garden.
These months, he spends gold after gold on kissing the ladies of the Marble Rose House. His actions, which were fueled by his sheer determination to win first place at the Graduation Exhibition Festival of the Academy, have fruited.
He collects more and more skills, becomes stronger, slays more Dungeon Bosses, gets more Skill Books with Marie, and becomes even stronger. Even his KP had piled up enough to reach the number of one thousand, excluding his expenditures, such as buying a Potion of Growth. His pocket kept bulging as fluently as the river flows.
Until his pocket emptied.
"Glamoria gave me 100 Gold Coins a month, but that's not even close to enough."
Loryarc recalled his long-term goal—to unlock the Consultation Menu of the System. When he remembered the zeros followed behind the first number of the Consultation Menu price, Loryarc felt a knot build up inside his stomach.
He couldn't even hire the ladies of the Marble Rose House for the week, how can he unlock that expensive feature?
Loryarc leaned on the chair limply, like an ignored doll, with no energy. His eyes gazed at the frozen flowers of the garden. Those flowers still looked beautiful even in their slumber state; they still maintain their natural enticement beauty and their blooming shapes, even developing their own new unique beauty aspect with the addition of the transparent effect of the ice layer covering their stems, leaves, and petals.
"Frozen still, but remains beautiful."
He began to absentmindedly construct words, his eyes locked on the frozen flowers.
"Struggled under paused time, waits for.. the blooming time?"
This is his new habit he developed lately, to play with words when his mind wanders. He somehow found it fulfilling to express his feelings in words. The reasons are unknown even to himself, but maybe because he has learned much in the classes he followed at the Academy.
He would realize some of his own thoughts that he wasn't even aware of while doing so, so he chose not to stop since it was helpful sometimes, just like at the moment.
The words he uttered stimulated his own mind. I am just like those flowers—a thought flashed on his mind.
"Huge obstacles are awaiting me forth, but I keep going and try, endure, and wait, for the time when the sweat I drop begins to pay off."
His aqua blue eyes stared at the similarly blue sky that stretched to the end of the firmament. His mind wandered back to the months that had passed.
These months, he came to realize that becoming a guy called Loryarc Lapizburn wasn't as easy as he thought.
Shoulders the title of The Good-for-nothing Bastard from his predecessor, except that he is popular among commoner girls, there aren't any good things brought along by the title.
The nobles seen him under a dark gleam, the professors valued him as merely an untalented but troublesome student, he often being bullied by the envious and bored nobles, and even some of the smarter groups of commoner students choose not to involved with him, thought of the dangers and troubles following along the actions of being close to him.
Actually...
"Isn't it no different from my past life?"
The only difference was that he still had hope to turn the tables here, while he hadn't back then. Because now, he has the System, the mysterious thing that could help him rise in this world. The last problem troubling him was money.
He's broke! Oh shet.
"Should I sell some Skill Books or something..."
While Loryarc was pondering this and that, the winter ended.
The Capital welcomed the warm air of spring. The whites were erased from the surface and replaced by the newly found blues and greens, plus the color of the sun. Everyone threw away their heavy and hot coat, wearing thinner and chillier clothes instead to counter the rising heat of spring.
When Loryarc was spacing out in the class and staring at the chirping birds, the professor who was teaching them at the moment brought on some news that piqued his interest.
"Alright, then I would inform you about the thing you certainly couldn't wait for." The curvy-haired female professor put her hands on her waist and smiled, her eyes gouging her students' faces.
The gulps of anticipation echoed in the classroom, the clearest sign of the students' eagerness. The female professor grinned when her ears caught the gulp sounds.
"You all looked like an orc in front of a nude maiden!" The female professor mocks, adding her signature 'hihihi' giggles at the end.
"P-professor Sona!" A student protested.
Professor Sona stopped teasing them with a light wave of her hand after the students began their glares.
"Okay, okay, chill guys."
She erased her wide smile and returned to her normal smile.
"Alright, about the Spring Seven Challenges, right?" She asked her students.
They nodded eagerly in response.
"Okay," She nodded, before continuing, "The principal, Mrs. Olirava, has determined the date, the locations, and the contents at which we would start the Spring Seven Challenges."
Some 'oohhh's echoed in the classroom as Professor Sona told them more about this so-called Spring Seven Challenges.
"The first challenge would be held on the first day of the thirty days before the Eclipse."
As soon as Professor Sona said that, the students couldn't hold themselves anymore. Some shouted cheers, while others even stood up and began to dance around.
Loryarc raised his brow at the sight.
Why were they so excited about the Spring Seven Challenges? He pondering to himself. He turned around to look at Marie, who was accompanying him as always, his eyes questioning her.
Marie came closer to him as she immediately understood what he was confused about. She explained after she brought her lips near his ear.
"Spring Seven Challenges is an event the Royal Academy of Lizarck Kingdom traditionally holds when the Priest of the God of Trial and Disaster receives the oracle about the need for a seven-sacrifice ritual to be done, Master. If history was correct, this ritual was held to strengthen the seal of the Ancient Calamities. The Holiness, Lord Azathoth, sealed a long, long time ago."
Was there such a thing as history here? Loryarc was surprised by the sheer magnitude of the history he heard for the first time. Even his predecessor didn't know about this, maybe because he never learned about the history of this world.
"The Ancient Calamities numbered in seven, thus the names of the ritual and the event included 'seven' in it, Master."
As Marie continued her explanation, Professor Sona wasn't over yet with the details of the event that awaited the students this spring season.
"The requirements this year are quite different from three years ago, since the contents of the challenges have changed as well. Some of you might be able to follow the event, while some of you might not be able to, at least for the first six challenges."
The students of the Academy never slow in their wits, so many of them focused on the keywords at least for the first six challenges. In other words, the last was...
A single grin from Professor Sona was enough to confirm their assumption. On that day, the shouts of joy and excitement filled the academy. Everyone rejoices, and eagerness fills their hearts. The Spring Seven Challenges! Who would become this year's Champion of Challenge? With expectations and determinations fueled these students, the Academy would then enter the intensive training session before the event, since everyone wants to become the Champion of Challenge.
But for one certain man, something else someone could gain from the event was what piqued him most instead.
"You said... Money? Like, a lot of gold coins?"
Loryarc, looking at Marie's face, beamed.