[Welcome cadet. I'm Athena. Please relax until I finish the checking procedure!]
[Fingerprint scan… completed!]
[Retina scan… complete!]
[DNA scan… completed!]
[Nanotech combat suit detected!]
[Full body scan… completed!]
[No relic detected…]
[Smart Bracelet scan… completed]
[Full checkup complete. Cadet ID recognized.]
[Rank 116969, first-year cadet Lucas Morningstar, do you wish to start Link?
Speak Yes or No.]
"Yes!" replied Lucas.
[Starting Link…]
As soon as Lucas consented to start the link, a blinding bright light flashed in his vision, causing him to frown in discomfort.
Finally, after a few long minutes, when the light subsided and Lucas opened his eyes, he found himself standing on the terrace of a tall building.
He looked around curiously and found other members of his class standing there, probably waiting for the remaining ones to spawn.
In the background his fellow cadets were framed by a city in ruins— partially destroyed buildings, some with smoke still rising, broken roads, and vandalized vehicles.
–"Lucas is here! That makes 99!"
Lucas walked up to the edge of the railing to get a better view of the destroyed city, completely ignoring the voice in the background that took his attendance.
"How annoying," Lucas muttered as he felt nostalgic watching the scenery he had seen countless times in his past life.
"Isn't it?"
Just then he heard a crisp, feminine voice from behind him. Turning around, Lucas discovered that it was none other than Anastasia.
Wearing a tight-fitting black combat suit that accentuated her slim and mature figure, and with her hair pulled back in a ponytail, she exuded a mix of allure and athleticism.
Still, this level of beauty was not enough to faze him. For him, she was just a child.
"Yeah," Lucas replied.
"To be honest, everything about this place gives me a bad vibe," Anastasia answered, shrugging lightly. "Everything is either broken or demolished. I find it quite disturbing."
"Hmm," Lucas agreed on the surface not wanting to waste time explaining how nice this place was compared to what he had seen.
Lucas had gone through countless wars and watched many cities get destroyed in his past life. Compared to that the present scenery was much more beautiful.
Lucas closed his eyes and tried to feel the sensation of a virtual world through other senses. Even though his conscience was the only the that was present here, it nonetheless felt very real to him.
The thick scent of smoke that came from some smoldering rubble of buildings, the warmth of the sunlight falling on him, the rough texture of the concrete railing he had his hands on—everything felt so real to him.
–"Nero Dekrauf is here! That makes 100! All cadets are here!"
Right when he was in the middle of admiring the beauty of virtual reality in front of him, Lucas heard a voice confirming Nero's arrival.
"Woah," Nero blinked his eyes a few times. "That was spooky."
"I know right?" Anastasia, who was right beside him a moment ago appeared in front of Nero god knows when and asked with her hands behind her back. "This was my first time too."
After exchanging a few words with Anastasia, Nero cleared his throat and yelled in a clear loud tone, making sure his voice reached every ear present.
"Okay, now that we are here, it's time to discuss the tactical roles we all will have during this mock war.
"First off, we'll be needing two strategists. For that, I'll take two cadets with the highest intelligence stat. So those who have an intelligence stat above 145, raise your hands."
Almost immediately, around eleven people raised their hands at Nero's words.
Considering the lower limit he mentioned, it could be said that a lot of people were intelligent. Even Kent was raising his hand.
"Okay, we'll go start high now. Who's above 150?"
At that question, suddenly, around five hands dropped. The rejected cadets had bitter expressions on their faces. Maybe because they didn't want to fight on the front lines.
"Okay, who's above 155?"
Again, three hands dropped. Only three people were left— Quinn, Grace, and Amelia.
"Above 160?"
"Heh," Quinn had to drop his hand this time. Instead of acting bitter, he was relieved that he was going to fight.
"Above 165?"
Both Grace and Amelia didn't drop their hands yet and locked their gazes, almost as if this was yet another competition for them— a way to belittle each other.
Still, none of the girls dropped their hands. Even Nero had beads of cold sweat all over his forehead by now.
"Well, it's decided then. Both Amelia and Grace will be taking the role of strategist with Amelia in the lead."
But before both the ladies could get into a catfight, Nero announced the result. Seeing that things had settled down between them, Nero gave a satisfying nod and decided to give his next orders but stopped as he saw someone raising their hand.
"What is it?" asked Nero with a curious glance.
"I don't know how to say this...but Lucas is nowhere to be seen." Anastasia the one who raised her hand said timidly as she looked at Nero and Amelia simultaneously.
Amelia's face turned red from anger as she realized what had happened and cursed out loud,
"That bastard did it again..."
*****
"It's peaceful."
Lucas said as he looked upwards towards the sky. The surroundings were quiet and exuded tranquility with no signs of the impending war. Lucas was currently lying on his back on the roof of a tall building.
"Oh really."
But the tranquil atmosphere soon turned cold as he heard someone's voice from behind. Without even needing to look back Lucas could tell who it was but he still turned to look at his back.
As he expected, it was none other than Amelia who was looking at him with a small smile. Although she was smiling, Lucas could tell that Amelia was quite angry right now.
Amelia wasn't the only one who was present there, as Lucas looked behind Amelia he could see Nero, Anastasia, Grace, and Quinn standing there as well.
"Why are you all here?" Lucas asked as he glanced at every one of them finally his gaze settling on Amelia.
"That should be my line. What are you doing here instead of staying in your position." countered Amelia as she glanced at Nero who was now standing beside her.
"It seems that there is a misunderstanding here," Lucas answered as he stood up and turned to face them before continuing his words.
"It was never my intention to participate in the war in the first place. The only reason why I even bothered to enter this world is because the Queen agreed to compensate us."
"What?!" Amelia cried in shock as if she didn't expect his words. Other's reactions weren't that different from hers.
"So you are saying you have no intention of participating in this war." Nero who merely frowned at Lucas's words asked once again to confirm.
"Indeed," Lucas answered instantly.
Nero could already tell that there was nothing he could do to change Lucas's mind. He was someone who didn't even fear expulsion so there was no way Lucas would fear his authority.
So the only thing left was to use force.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do as you please, Lucas," Nero said as the entire area was enveloped with his mana.
Nero knew that Lucas was more powerful than he appeared to be. This was a fact that everyone was aware of after the incident at the cafeteria.
Even Nero was surprised when Lucas effortlessly stopped him even under the pressure he exuded. But that was the extent of his reaction.
Nero was confident that no one among his peers could defeat him. Even if there was someone who could rival his monstrous strength, they would still be defeated if he were to use his trump card. And this virtual world is the best place for him to use that trump card.
While he was calculating how much strength he would have to use in order to defeat Lucas, he only found his adversary peacefully napping.
Even when Amelia and others were struggling to stand, Lucas alone kept sleeping without a care in the world.
Disregard. It was a blatant disregard towards Nero.
This struck a nerve inside Nero. He was now angry to the point of completely disregarding others and focusing completely on Lucas.
RUMBLE-!
The mana pressure intensified and the surroundings began to rumble.