Noah strolled across the campus of the Academy.

It was Sunday.

So he was taking a stroll before going for training. He had decided to train all day.

The cold morning breeze brushed softly against his body. His snow-white hair swayed gently.

Today he was wearing a normal outfit. Dark blue pants and a maroon-colored T-shirt with a round collar, basically a crew neck, a circular neckline that sat comfortably at the base of the throat.

He was slightly sad. The reason was simple. He thought after the VR test he might get a reward from the system. But he didn’t get any of it. Which simply meant he would get rewards only when he survived dangerous scenarios related to the storyline, which had more impact on this world.

He decided to put those thoughts aside and enjoy his walk.

’Since I am at Awakened core, I should take some mission...or might explore some dungeon. I will do that next weekend,’ he thought.

Sigh.

Noah sighed while enjoying the morning.

Now his rank, which was 1786, would soon change. He didn’t know if it would change immediately or after the first semester.

But it was a good thing for him.

Noah decided to take a turn toward the academy building, toward the training ground. But he was stopped by a group of five people.

"Noah Eldritch," a voice came from behind him.

It was filled with anger, trying hard not to burst out.

Noah knew that voice.

’So he’s already here.’

He turned back to look at the group who had come to find him.

There, a few meters away from him, stood five young men.

A curly-haired man with amber eyes stood in the middle–Travis. On his right side were two others. One was a fat boy named Richard. The other was Edward.

On Travis’s left side were two more guys. One with green hair and another wearing glasses. They were Michael and Testu.

Travis glared at Noah with burning eyes. "How dare you betray me, Noah!!"

Edward stepped forward with an angry scowl. "You are going to pay for this! For what you have done to us!!"

Michael narrowed his eyes coldly. "You really made a big mistake, Noah."

Testu adjusted his glasses with a smirk. "Hehe~ now we will take our revenge."

Richard simply growled, cracking his knuckles.

Noah raised his hands slightly with a calm, friendly smile. "Hello everyone. I wanted to talk with you all. How about we go to another place where there are no eyes and ears?"

Travis glanced around, noticing a few students passing by and occasionally looking at them.

He clicked his tongue, then nodded. "Okay. Let’s talk somewhere else."

---

Thud!!

Travis slammed Noah against the wall, gripping his collar tightly.

His face twisted with rage. "Now tell me what should I do with you!!"

They were currently at the same place where Noah had made the deal with them. It was at the backside of the dormitory.

Edward cracked his knuckles with a vicious grin. "What should we do? Of course beat the shit out of him."

Michael folded his arms, his expression cold. "Yeah, let’s show him what happens when someone messes with us."

Testu pushed his glasses up again, smiling darkly. "I cannot wait to take my anger out on him."

Richard growled. "I still remember how he eliminated me."

The four underlings of Travis didn’t back down. They continued to shout in anger.

Noah tilted his head slightly, a teasing smile on his lips. "Oh guys. Do you really want to beat me?"

Then he looked directly at Travis. "Travis, are you sure you want to do that?"

Travis glared at him for a few seconds before releasing his collar and stepping back.

He exhaled sharply. "As much as I want to beat you... I cannot do that."

Edward frowned in confusion. "But why?"

Michael clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Why? Of course, if we did that, then we might have to face the instructors. You do know that our position, lineage, and families don’t matter here. If we beat him and he complains, then they would take action and investigate it."

He crossed his arms tighter. "We will be in trouble. Even if we might get out of it... it’s still risky. Tch!"

Noah scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile. "Listen guys... Hey Travis, I will give you back those cores you had given me. Sorry for breaking my promise."

Travis’s expression darkened immediately. "Shut up! Your apology won’t do anything. And I am pretty pissed off currently."

He stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "Why did you do that? You got what you wanted. Or did you do that to gain more points and rank up?"

Noah shrugged lightly. "Well, you got that right."

Travis frowned. "Why... I thought you were not the kind of guy who cares about ranking."

Noah let out a small breath. "Yes, that’s true. But after making a deal with you, I had a talk with my father. And he told me... if I were to rank up and do well, my chances of getting back into the family might increase. Now tell me, can I let go of such a chance?"

Edward scoffed with a mocking smile. "Your father, Duke Mortimer..."

He sneered. "And you actually think they will take you back? He might have said that because you were begging him. And thought someone like you would never climb the ranks."

Noah’s gaze hardened slightly. "But I did... I will get quite a good amount of points. That will help me for sure."

Michael hissed angrily. "You fucking snake! Give back those cores to Travis!"

"No need."

Travis, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

Everyone turned to him in shock.

"What do you mean, Travis??"

"How could you say that after what he has done?"

"You are joking, aren’t you?"

"This is out of my prediction."

Everyone showed their surprise.

Even Noah raised an eyebrow, clearly caught off guard.

Travis looked at Noah calmly this time. The anger in his eyes had faded. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Hey Noah. Keep those monster cores to yourself. I don’t need them. I will also forgive you and won’t tell any of your teammates."

That made everyone even more confused.

Noah folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall.

He looked at Travis with curiosity. "Why this sudden generosity? Or do you want me to do something in return?"

Travis smiled faintly. "As expected, you are smarter than you act."

He continued, his tone steady. "You gave ideas to me during the VR exam. What I could do... which led me to act according to what you wanted. I sent my classmates to the mall... while hiding a few in the morning when your scouts had no observation in that area. Destroy the building. Then let Damien eliminate most of my classmates while telling me to use that chance to eliminate Kaelan and Arisha, while Michael would eliminate Lyria and Ryan."

He smirked. "Well played, Noah."

Noah waved his hand lightly. "Hah... it was nothing impressive. I just went with the flow. Nothing much."

Travis nodded. "True, true... that’s why I decided to keep a friendly relationship with you."

Noah tilted his head. "But for what?"

Travis’s smirk deepened. "In the future, I will need your help. And you have to help me."

Noah raised his brow curiously. "Now, now! What request might you have?"

Travis shook his head slightly. "Well, it’s not something you need to worry about right now. As I said, I will need your help in the future... and when I say future, that doesn’t mean just in a few days or weeks... but it might be in months... or even a year. Its important for me."

Noah remained silent for a moment, thinking about his words.

Then he nodded briefly.

"Okay. I will help you as an apology for fooling you."

Travis gave a short nod. "Don’t do that next time."

Noah smiled lightly. "Of course I won’t. As long as it doesn’t put my life in a dangerous position... I would gladly help you."

The other four guys were stunned, not knowing what to say.

Travis turned around. "Let’s go, guys. We are done with him."

Michael clicked his tongue and followed him.

Edward pointed a finger at Noah with a scowl. "You were lucky today!"

Then he added with a threatening tone, "But next time, if you try something funny... you won’t be safe."

He turned and walked away. Testu and Richard followed behind him.

Now Noah remained alone.

’Man, this went better than I expected. I thought he would at least punch me once or twice... but nothing,’ he thought with slight worry.

Then his expression turned serious, the playful look disappearing.

’The way he spoke... it doesn’t look like he is going to ask for something normal... I just hope it won’t involve anything related to the storyline of this game.’