In the simulation ground, the class was still continuing.
Professor Valerius walked among the students. Each student was placed in a separate simulation section.
On the floating screens in front of the professor, their performance data was displayed. Some had weaknesses in resource management, some in battlefield analysis.
Some relied too much on raw power.
Valerius’s job was to find their weak points and force them to face those weaknesses.
Lian was also sitting on one of the platforms. Unlike the others, his simulation had ended very quickly.
To be more precise, he was so good that he did not need such things. Besides, one week of experience in the Ruined Realm, and he had learned all these lessons in childhood in the Vorhelm family.
The only reason he was attending class was the benefits the Academy could offer him. Otherwise, he would prefer to return to the Ruined Realm after a period of rest.
Even now, he did not need to wait long. According to what Professor Valerius had said, Academy classes would only continue for one more week.
After that, students would enter the new Ruined Realm and start exploring and hunting.
The country does not need Awakened who only know academic theory. It needs Awakened who know how to fight, and the best way to learn fighting is to fight!
At that moment, two people came toward him. One was a girl with shining golden hair. She had a beautiful face, and a mischievous smile was always at the corners of her lips.
Her body shape also made almost every boy in the class glance at her at least once.
Next to her, a girl with dark blue hair moved. Compared to her companion, she had a much more serious appearance. Her gaze was calm, but a kind of natural confidence could be seen in her eyes.
Both were among the top five students in the class.
When they reached Lian, the blonde girl was the first to smile.
"So finally I get to see you up close."
Lian raised an eyebrow.
"I am Liana." The girl continued.
Then she pointed to the girl next to her.
"And this is Selina."
The blue-haired girl nodded.
"Nice to meet you."
Lian also responded briefly.
"Lian."
"Everyone here knows your name. No introduction needed." The blonde girl laughed.
Lian said nothing.
And Liana continued with excitement.
"Actually, I wanted to congratulate you on joining the elite class. And of course, about what happened to Darren."
Her smile deepened.
"Someone really needed to put him in his place. Ever since Roderick left, he thought he was the king of the class."
"I didn’t do anything." Lian shrugged.
"If you hadn’t done anything, the whole class wouldn’t be talking about you right now." Selina added sarcastically.
A few moments of silence passed.
"By the way... can I get your—" Then Liana suddenly leaned forward, causing two large watermelons to fill Lian’s entire field of vision.
Lian’s eyebrows rose slightly. Was this girl trying to seduce him? If so, she was putting in an admirable effort, but it was not going to work.
But before she could finish her sentence, Selina grabbed the collar of her clothes.
"No, don’t start again. It hasn’t even been five minutes since you met him."
"Let me go!"
"No."
"I’m building social relationships!"
"You’re causing trouble."
"It’s the same thing!" Liana snorted.
For the first time in a long while, Lian let out a short laugh. Seeing this scene was strange. After all that blood, all that horror he had seen in the Ruined Realm... this silly argument seemed almost unreal.
Selina finally managed to pull her friend back.
"We’ll see you later." She said before leaving.
"Don’t forget I asked for your number first!" Liana also waved her hand.
"Shut up and let’s go."
And both walked away.
A few hours later, the class finally ended. The sun had completely set.
Students left the elite building one after another.
Lian also headed toward the dormitory. The night air was cool, but it felt pleasant to him.
When he entered the room, the first thing he saw was Kain. His friend was lying on the bed, one hand behind his head, playing on his phone with the other.
Kain did not even raise his head.
"Back?"
"As an Awakened, don’t you have anything else to do?" Lian also fell onto his own bed.
Kain let out a long sigh.
"Until they let us enter the Ruined Realm? No, nothing can be done."
Then he put the phone aside.
"Not everyone is as lucky as you. You can go whenever you want."
"Less jealousy, more training. That way, next week when you enter the realm, you won’t run out in fear in the first hour."
"Haha, that wasn’t funny at all." Kain gave him a dry look.
"Anyway, why don’t you go back to the Ruined Realm? We need keys and portals, but you? Why are you wasting your time here?"
Lian was quiet for a moment, then said.
"I’m waiting to enter through the portal. First, I need to know the base areas. After that, I will use the ability I gained."
He was just lying. The real reason was simple. If he used that ability, he would appear exactly where he had been last.
Which was the Dreadmaw’s cave. And that was the last thing he wanted to do.
He wanted to enter through the portal so his respawn point would change.
Of course, that was the main reason. There were other reasons too, including that he wanted to make more money so he could buy the best armor and weapons.
He was looking for a way to sell the two Fallen monster corpses without attracting too much attention, but he had not come up with any idea yet.
Unless he went to the black markets.
Kain suddenly sat up, his eyes shining.
"So we are going together?"
Lian laughed.
"Probably."
"Great! Sooner or later I’ll surpass you." Kain said with confidence and excitement.
Lian looked at him, was silent for a few seconds, and then laughed.
"Only in your dreams."
"Hey!"
"That was an insult!"
"It was reality."
"Our friendship ends here." Kain threw his pillow at him.
Lian easily caught it. And at that moment... the sound of his phone notification rang.
Both looked at the screen at the same time. Lian opened the message, and a few seconds of silence passed.
[Student Lian Vorhelm
Your presence is required at the special elite team selection meeting.
Time: Tomorrow at 9 AM.
Location: Academy Central Building.
Subject: Clearance operation of the fallen border region.]
"What is it?" Kain asked curiously.
Lian read the text. The message was sent directly from the Academy. His eyes narrowed a little. Kain waited.
"I have to attend a meeting tomorrow." A few moments later, Lian said quietly.
"What meeting?"
"About the elite team for the border city."
"The same border mission?" Kain blinked.
Lian nodded.
"It seems I was selected."
The room fell into silence for a few moments. Outside the window, the darkness of night cast its shadow over the entire Academy.
But in one of the country’s border points... a fallen city was still surrounded by monsters.
And tomorrow... the first mission meeting would be held, a meeting that could change everything.