I Attack 10,000x Times Stronger-Chapter 17: WindMane Carriage & Classes

"?!"

Caleb stood there, completely speechless, staring at the luxurious carriage. "W-what? How?"

Igris smirked, lazily waving his hand from the window. "Just get in first. I’ll explain on the way."

Noticing that the surrounding students were beginning to stare and point at him, Caleb quickly scrambled into the plush interior of the carriage and pulled the heavy door shut.

"This is wild," Caleb breathed, sinking into the velvet cushions. He was stunned for a moment, but then his face turned dead serious. He looked at Igris suspiciously. "Did you steal this from someone?"

Igris laughed softly. "How is that even possible? Let’s just say Arian Nickel had a sudden change of heart and decided to let me stay in the top mansion. The carriage came with the estate."

"Hm? You’re staying at Building 1? Arian let you stay there? T-that seems highly unlikely..." Caleb scratched his head in utter confusion. He knew Arian’s arrogant reputation.

"No need to overthink it," Igris waved his hand dismissively, smoothly changing the subject. "Come to think of it, with all the chaos earlier, I didn’t even ask what Talent you awakened."

Caleb smiled embarrassedly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just a D-Rank Talent. Stone-Body."

Igris raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise. That was truly impressive. He himself had stopped at D-Rank and knew exactly how difficult and traumatizing it was to kill your fellow humans to get there.

"With a Talent like that, you’re practically destined to unlock a high-tier Tank Class," Igris joked, giving Caleb an approving nod. "You definitely have the body for it anyway. You’re a walking fortress."

"Oh, shut up!" Caleb shoved Igris playfully with his elbow, though a proud smile tugged at his lips.

The two friends joked and discussed their future prospects as the carriage smoothly descended the mountain.

A few dozen minutes later, the carriage rolled to a gentle stop.

"We have arrived, Master," James the coachman called out.

"Let’s go."

Caleb and Igris stepped out of the carriage. Before them stood a massive, medieval-style stone building with towering pillars. Hundreds of freshmen wearing the signature Marlin Academy camouflage jackets were nervously filing inside.

"There’s no need to wait for me, James. You can head back to the estate," Igris instructed.

James bowed deeply. With a nod of acknowledgment, he climbed back into the conductor’s seat, whipped the reins, and guided the Windmane Horses back up the mountain path.

"Alright," Igris sighed, adjusting his jacket. "Let’s see what our first class is all about."

Both Igris and Caleb joined the massive crowd of about sixteen hundred surviving freshmen, funneling into the grand auditorium.

The murmuring of the massive crowd died down instantly as an Instructor walked out from a side entrance and stepped up to the podium.

The Instructor was a breathtakingly handsome High Elf. Instead of traditional armor or robes, he wore a tailored, pitch-black suit with no tie, and a pair of sleek, red-tinted designer glasses. He looked more like a high-fashion model than a veteran warrior.

"My name is Feinrier, and I am here to orient you on the realities of the First Dimension," his voice echoed smoothly across the hall.

Instructor Feinrier’s golden, sun-like eyes swept over the 1,600 teenagers seated before him. They were so young, yet every single one of them had blood on their hands. Every single one of them was a killer. That was what the System had turned humanity into.

"There are rumors," Feinrier began, pacing slowly, "that the Nine Divine Gods created these nine dimensions to seal away an ancient Demon God. Of course, there are other rumors which state the Divine Beings simply needed a private realm for their cosmic orgies, so they built this place."

A ripple of nervous chuckles spread through the student body at the sheer blasphemy of the statement.

"But none of that matters to you," Feinrier’s tone suddenly dropped, turning ice-cold. "Nor does it change your absolute purpose as an Awakened Player. Your only goal in this universe is to become stronger. To do that, you must kill, loot, and level up. It is the only metric of worth."

He tapped the podium. "You were taught the theories back on Earth for the past year, but let me remind you of the basics. The grade of your Talent dictates your comprehension speed. An S-Rank Godscion processes martial knowledge 10 times faster than an A-Rank, 20 times faster than a B-Rank, and 60 times faster than a F-Rank."

Feinrier paused, letting the words sink into their brains.

"They also unlock racial skills faster. They evolve their bloodlines faster. This is why people gamble their lives in the Culling Game. Because an S-Rank Talent is a fighter jet, and the rest of you are crawling through the mud. For example, our Academy’s famous Magic BattleVeins technique typically takes an A-Rank student a full month to open three veins. An S-Rank will do it in ten days. They reach the pinnacle of any combat skill or technique with terrifying ease, effortlessly suppressing anyone of the same level."

He pushed his red-tinted glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Now, regarding Levels. It is incredibly difficult to level up. To gain a single level, you must kill 10 monsters of your exact level, or 20 monsters half your strength. By the time you reach Level 5, the requirement doubles. At Level 10, it triples. By Level 30, you must slaughter 50 equally ranked beasts just to see a sliver of progress."

Even though the students knew the theory, hearing the difficulty made many of them shake their heads in despair. This was exactly why high-level Players were treated like royalty on Earth.

"When you reach Level 10, you will be eligible for a Class Change. The System will assign you a Class based on your utilized techniques, your battle style, your kill count, your lethality, and most importantly... your Talent. If you are unsatisfied with the Class you receive, you may enter the Culling Game to fight for a better one, or die trying."