"But then, I resumed class a month later, and after much training, the First Genius Ranking Event started. I moved from my position of 200 to the top 150 on the list."
"That arrested the attention of a pretty high-ranking instructor, and I became a personal intern."
"Of course, classes were ongoing as usual, but after you were declared to be in a coma, there was a lot of panic, especially amongst the humans."
"The academy is filled to the brim with people from the top ten families, so when the only human in the top ten ranking suddenly disappeared, most thought it was an insider job by the academy."
"Well, I can’t say much, but I can say I at least felt like the academy purposely got rid of you because you were human."
"You know that feeling, Ryuk?" Arthur suddenly asked as he was about to continue before Ryuk interrupted.
"The feeling of not being safe in the Ascension Academy anymore? Wondering if you’ll be the next target?" Ryuk asked, and Arthur’s eyes flashed before he nodded.
"Yes, exactly that."
Continue reading on NovelFire.Côm
"After you were gone, I was the next top-ranking human. So, even though it seemed ridiculous, I kind of felt I would be next to disappear."
"The pressure was pretty monumental, and so I had to double my training intensity."
"Most of the time, after I became a second-year, I started frequently leaving the academy, going on quest after quest, just to avoid staying in the academy too much."
"Just trying to hide away while also growing my strength and improving my experience."
"I did it so much that I became the number two student amongst the second years who had gone on the most outside quests, hahaha..." Arthur said, laughing boisterously as Ryuk chuckled.
It truly was funny.
"Anything must be done to survive..." Ryuk complimented as Arthur nodded.
"You’re right because I really did everything I could. I even just came back from a quest yesterday and am already planning to go on another one soon."
"Now that I’m a third-year, it’s easier getting in and out of the academy."
"Seems like a pressured life," Ryuk mused with furrowed eyebrows as Arthur shrugged.
"It wasn’t that bad... for me, at least."
"Most of the other humans ended up repeating the years, and many of them died on quests."
"There are very few humans remaining in this academy, except for the newcomers who just arrived."
Arthur said this as Ryuk’s hands unconsciously paused for a few seconds before resuming—something that didn’t escape Arthur’s keen eyes.
He noted Ryuk’s flickering aura that flailed for a while before quickly calming down again.
"And being a third year now, I got quite some benefits, like a personal house in Grade C, a flying jet for quests, thousands of Apex Points, and all. Once you pull through the first and second years, things start looking good. "
"The pain doesn’t last forever, you know..." Arthur said, and Ryuk nodded.
"Maybe."
"I still remember Instructor Dravok Kain and his screams of war and pain. Any news on the Knulls War yet?" Ryuk asked, his voice laced with amusement as Arthur chuckled.
"Instructor Kain? He’s quite the soldier. He’s not even in the academy right now. I heard he’s in some Interdimensional Gate Raid."
"The Knulls War? Nah, a battlefield won’t be arriving anytime soon."
"Even though I somehow sense some tense pressure with the high officials in the academy, and the quest requirements have kind of doubled for some reason, same with the training intensity, I don’t think a Knull War will be starting anytime soon."
"But a year from now, things might be different..." Arthur said to him as Ryuk nodded his head with a smile. But he knew better in his mind.
’The Knull War had already started, and I’m pretty sure the academy knows about it. Yet, the news hasn’t been released to their third years yet...’ Ryuk thought.
But he didn’t blame the Ascension Academy for that.
’Perhaps they’re just trying to stop the students from going into a panic, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.’
"All the while, and you were snoring in bed. Lucky you..." Arthur teased as Ryuk chuckled.
Silence continued in the table for a while before Ryuk asked.
"Anyway, Arthur. Do you know a Fallen called Morgaine during our era?" Ryuk asked.
Arthur furrowed his eyebrows before asking, "Do you mean Morgaine Dominare?"
Ryuk’s heart skipped a beat, but he responded with a calm nod.
"Yes. I think that’s the one."
"Remember when I told you a student caused a mini-riot after your disappearance and I ended up second on the Quest Ranking, even though I completed quests like mad due to trying to avoid the academy?" Arthur asked as Ryuk’s eyebrows furrowed.
"Don’t tell me she started the riot."
"Yes, she did. And right now, she’s number one in the rankings. Look..." Arthur said as he showed him his ex-watch, and Ryuk saw the interface.
[Quest Ranking Tab]
[1] Morgaine Dominare – 7,290 Quests Completed
[2] Arthur Pendragon – 1,245 Quests Completed
[3] Alpha Fenrir – 1,240 Quests Completed
[4] Lorien Fortguard – 1,100 Quests Completed
[5] Ray Gotham – 900 Quests Completed
"Wow," Ryuk muttered, his gaze lingering on the rankings.
He could instantly see that even if the top nine below Morgaine combined their total completed quests together, they still might not reach her full number of completed quests.
That was insane.
"Yes. She’s been completing quests like crazy, even since first year when we were still learning in classes. The academy somehow gave her permission to go ahead and complete quests, even though that was something given only to second years."
"That’s half of the reason why there’s such a huge gap..." Arthur explained as Ryuk nodded.
"If my guess is right, she’ll most likely be on some quest right now?" Ryuk asked, and Arthur nodded.
"Yes, although you can find out her quest content in the Quest Halls."
"She’s garnered quite the reputation for taking on only quests at the Insane Level and somehow surviving them so many times."
"I heard her latest quest was on the level of ’Impossible’—a quest meant for instructors. Her chances of surviving are nil, but who knows? She might just be able to pull it off like she normally does..." Arthur said with a shrug, relishing the taste of the food with closed eyes.
But only if he saw the horror that lingered in Ryuk’s eyes as he stared dumbly at his face.
’Oh, shit...’