The Transmigrated Author

Chapter 41  Shopping (1)

[Damage has been Mitigated]

[Damage has been Mitigated] n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

[Damage has been Mitigated]

[Luck has been struck! Critical Kick!]

My screen exploded with notifications the moment I unmuted it. "Nice job Rel!" Jan clapped me on the back, momentarily straightening my hunched posture. "You were unbelievable! How'd you block those attacks without a scratch?"

His eyes widened. "Wow, Rel, are you sandbagging? Saving the best for last?" The thought of him even thinking that sent a pang through me.

"No, no," I stammered. "I'm pretty weak actually... You're just overpraising me." An unconvincing smile plastered across my face.

"But I've never seen anything like it! The way you anticipate attacks... I want to learn how to do that!" Jan's enthusiasm was infectious, his puppy-dog eagerness quickly drained my already low social energy.

"Maybe later," I hedged, desperate to get away from him. "If I'm in the mood."

"Really?" Jan beamed, and for a moment, his excitement chased away my anxieties.

"Jannn! Wait up!" Camila's voice sliced through our chatter, pulling Jan's attention away from me. He turned, a confused smile splitting his face as he watched her jog to catch up. "You're like a whole grade above everyone else. Were you even trying Jan" Camila chimed in praising Jan for his effort.

I don't think Camila appreciated the fact that she didn't land a single blow on me or Jan but that was just a skill issue on her side If she wanted to she could've.

Adjusting my back, I forced myself to move, trailing slowly behind them. Camila and Jan were walking together joyfully and it made me realize something

Was Camila into Jan?

FWANG!

[Alert!]

[Story Change!]

[Character: Camila has been updated... Side character -> Romantic interest -> Jan Ates.]

Well, this doesn't add up. Is there any reason why this change happened?

[This is an A.T. matter, There was a change that has been made to the story! If more changes occur I will try to let you know ASAP Mr Axel (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧.]

"Thanks a bunch, system," I replied kindly my head still confused with the concerning change. Camila and Jan? Valencia and Jan? I guess there's nothing I could do about it but this change was shocking to me, to say the least, but should I care about it since there's only 1 sole winner in that man's heart?

Plus I don't want to spend any PPP either on fixing this so there's no point.

As we made our way back to class, I felt a prickling sensation on the back of my neck as we were walking. Each time I turned my neck I could see that Miya was looking elsewhere.

Turn

Tutu... Tutu... Tutu

Miya that F**ker what could he want from me? As we went back and fourth with his constant stare and me turning back to look at him I finally had enough of this guy's games.

"Did I do something wrong?" I turned my head backwards, his unwavering mindlessness wandered.

"No," he replied, but his eyes continued to stare into me, examining, analyzing. "Rel... this might seem out of place, but... do you ever take these fights seriously?"

huh... Is this guy serious? His question caught me off guard but was he always this brain dead? "I do," I said, turning to face him. "I don't see why I wouldn't" I averted my gaze,

"Those attacks... It felt like I hit a wall when it was charging towards you." He said nonchalantly.

"Maybe you're just overthinking things and didn't aim right." quickening my pace I left my truthful lie hanging in the air in case he had more questions. I couldn't deal with this guy's behaviour...

***

During the battle, I hadn't realized how taxing summoning the portal had been. It was a gamble trying to conjure it before the match even began. But once the fight kicked off, focusing on manipulating the portal felt like it was draining my life force.

It appeared, smaller than expected, and enlarging it while shifting it with my body was a tremendous effort, leaving me exhausted, especially after deflecting those simultaneous attacks.

My positioning wasn't perfect, but it gave me a rough estimate of the mana cost for summoning, moving, and enlarging the portals.

based on my calculations, the mana percentages seemed to hold: 15% per portal summon, 10% for movement, and 25% for enlargement. Thankfully, I had enough reserves, and the fight ended quicker than I anticipated.

***

[Pinnacle Academy Classrom 1-A]

"Good job with today's practice session guys I'll see you all in the next period when we do theory so if you forgot your textbook, I advise that you get it before the start of next period," Kolek said as he waved everyone to get up from their seats.

RINGGGG!

After that exhausting session, I quickly headed towards Allen's Cafe to grab my go-to meal: a Chicken Caesar wrap and an iced Vanilla Coffee.

Once I had my meal in my hands, I left the cafeteria and settled down at my usual spot near the IDS station. I planned to skip the rest of my classes for the day, go shopping and check out the auctions.

"Hey." I lifted my head to see Lyra, her dark hair braided neatly, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Rel, You're always here."

I mumbled a grunt, more interested in my food than conversation.

As I munched on my Caesar wrap, I silently nodded in response to her answer. I couldn't tell if she was still looking at me or not, but it didn't really matter since I was leaving anyway.

"Planning on ditching class again?" she prodded, curiosity lacing her voice.

munch, munch, munch,

Why are people asking me so many things today it's annoying. I couldn't tell the expression I was making but I could feel my tired face sneer at her question "I am," I muttered, wiping sauce from my cheek.

She looked at me confused at my answer. Lyra leaned closer, her gaze unwavering. "Why skip, though? We have a lot of content for our classes you know?"

Hmm, I skip because I am better than anyone else at theory without looking at the content. (With the system) Though I'm not willing to tell her that I'll just say this instead.

"I study in my free time" I replied my voice confident with my answer. "Also I'm pretty sure you're not here to ask why I'm not attending classes, so if you have a question for me, please ask now before I leave." "Okay, Okay, Okay. I'll get straight to the point" Lyra said as she faced in front of me.

"Have you gotten any early entry offers from any guilds so far?" She asked with a business-like look on her face. Is she scheming something?

"No. Why?" "Well, I was just asking since there will be a lot of the top guilds coming in the next week, I wanted to know how many offers you had, but for a top student in theory with no offers is quite an interesting situation to be in."

"You did forget to consider about me being last in the Practical side of things," I said. But could this be that she might be willing to offer me a spot at her guild in the future?

This might be a possibility but with her current status as a member of the Visionary Syndicate, she has yet to make any moves inside of the guild to make her presence known.

Although her family owns a portion of that company it will soon be hers in a few years.

Lyra is an influential person who will become very important in the future. However, she needs a lot of help to climb the ranks of her guild.

In the main story, she faced tough competition as she had many enemies and spies who tried to bring her down by blaming her for various guild ventures. Despite the challenges, she used this as an opportunity to prove her worth and showcase her skills on the big stage. In those few years, she became the youngest guild master at the age of 20, and her achievements were immortalized.

"Oh, I did forget that after all. But I'm sure a guild out there wants you." She sounded like she was looking down on me rather than reassuring me, But after saying that I realised how worthless next week's event would be since there was no point in me being there I could just drop off in the first round.

"Yeah, you do look like one to forget." I snarled at her as I finished my last bite of my Caesar wrap.

"That's quite rude for someone who hides his abilities." Lyra seemed to look at me with a poutful face. "What could you be hiding to sit at the last place for our academy practicals."

"I have nothing to hide," I said as I took a sip of my Iced coffee. "If I wanted to reach rank one for both theory and practical I would've done so by now." Getting up I walked away from Lyra as I had better things to do than to talk to her.

At the IDS station of Pinnacle, the station was operated automatically without the need for any guard or attendant.

To use the station, students simply had to scan their student ID using the scanner in the room. Once scanned, a holographic UI screen would appear, allowing them to select their desired destination. However, the system had some limitations as students could only travel within a restricted range of locations.

Click!

[Welcome Student: Axel Saint Rel Laurence. Where would you like to go?]

_____________

Authors Notes:

- The term 'sandbagging' is basically a term of saying,"Are you holding back?"