There wasn't a moment when my hand dared leave the pocket where my keychain resided.
I needed to drop it off safely in my dorm room as soon as possible, for my mind's sake.
...
...
...
Standing in front of the countless glass showcase blocks, each containing weapons worth more than 50,000 gold coins at least, Lily paused and said to the group of students before her.
"This is the only time you will visit this room for the next year, so please choose your sole weapon carefully."
As Lily moved aside, the entirety of the massive room appeared, resembling a museum with dimly lit lights and hundreds of weapons.
Snapping every student back to reality, she suddenly added before gesturing for us to come in.
"Please remember that these weapons are only LOANS! At the end of your four years here, or for some of you prior to that, you must return these weapons in good condition."
Pausing for dramatic effect, she then raised her voice and continued.
"Or else, you will have to pay the costs of repairs. Which, for some, you...is more than you can afford in your lifetime."
...is she looking at me? No, right? Teachers don't have access to student bank accounts, right?
With those words lingering in our minds, the other students and I flooded into the room, which could easily hold over a hundred people at a time.
Immediatly, some students began gathering together, finally out of Lily's hearing range, or so they thought.
"I think I'd have the greatest night in the world with her..."
"Man, she can put me to sleep any day!"
I didn't dare say anything, but some students even approached me, putting me inside their circle.
I easily recognized them as the students from ranks 1300-1500.
"Be honest, man...do I have a chance?"
"Yeah...go for it!"
With a blank expression, I just nodded my head while they continued talking, as if Lily wasn't less than a few feet away.
There was no need to be disrespectful or anything toward them.
However, my gaze slowly turned to the side, toward the corner of the room where Ruby was standing alone.
Being the lowest rank in this class, filled with the top five highest rankers, was simply a death sentence.
Carissa, Haerin, Serena, and Magnus were all standing individually by their weapons, no one daring to approach them.
However, Leo was a completely different story.
"What weapon do you use?"
"How do you know Professor Lily?"
"Where did you come from!? How are you rank 1!?"
"Can I get your contact information!?"
Tens of students swarmed him as if he were a celebrity, bombarding him with questions.
Leo responded quite well, smiling and nodding his head occasionally while slowly moving with the crowd toward the sword section.
Finally catching my attention, one of the few students around me suddenly looked back with a disgusted expression and said.
"*tsk* Look at him. He must think he's the shit."
I instantly recognized this student as Rank 1000, Ivan.
Also known as the leader of the Leo hate group. And it seemed...that this group around me was a club meeting.
After a brief nod, I split off from them and also headed to the sword selection, ready to ditch the terrible one lying with my bags.
All the swords you could ever imagine lay beside each other: katanas, tachis, odachis, scimitars, broadswords, heavyswords, sabers, and even cutlasses.
Reflecting on my current martial art, I identified three key criteria that my sword needed to meet.
It needed to have a short to mid-length blade, making it easier to withdraw than, say, a long-bladed sword like a katana.
Of course, the blade had to be light and flexible, not slowing down movement. And finally, a narrow and semi-curved tip for jabs and horizontal slashes.
Or, in other words...I could just steal the same type of sword that the elven prince, who had held my art in the novel, used.
That sword was, of course, the Willow-leaf Dao.
With a gently curving, single-edge blade that ended at a single sharp point, resembling the shape of a willow leaf, the sword was just slim enough for cuts and thrusts, with a slight curve for slashes.
Unlike the heavier broad sword, it was lightweight and versatile, allowing me to move more efficiently and execute feint attacks without having to worry about overextending myself.
Looking at a Ming Dynasty blade before me, I immediatly grabbed it, trying to ignore the price tag next to it.
[500,000 gold coins]
It was ten times the price of the average sword in this already expensive room.
Also, it wasn't even an artifact! It was just a simple blade with no personal backstory made by some blacksmith.
Carefully sheathing the sword, I held it in my palms and slowly walked forward, as if I were on a tightrope.
One drop...and my life is over.
Reaching the exit where Professor Lily stood, I gestured to the sword in my hands and smiled.
However...instead of letting me pass like everyone else, she blankly glanced at me.
"Athen, was it? Did you hear what I said? You have to reimburse the academy for damages caused to the sword."
Forcing a grin, I simply tilted my head and answered, my voice trembling.
"I-i understand."
She simply let out a "*TSK*" before allowing me to pass.
Behind me, the main characters had made their choices as well.
Magnus held two curved daggers, and Carissa played around with a long pitch-black recurved bow.
Leo leaned on his signature light-weight katana, and Haerin glanced at a broadsword.
That only left Serena.
What kind of weapon would a genius use?
A crossbow would be your answer.
*BANG*
As the final student selected their weapon and left, Lily stepped forward, slamming the two metal industrial doors of the room shut.
"Your dorms should already be on your student identification card, so we can move on to practice."
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...
The training facility was massive, about the size of three football stadiums combined.
[A/N: 40 power stones +1 chapter]