I Became the Genius of the Gigant Academy - Chapter 15:

Abel had been observing the blade’s tail for a long time. Until something awakened him

[The main quest “Mock quest” will be held!] 

[First quest. Take the role of the leader of the blade tail mock battle.] 

[This quest is a linked quest. Rewards will be given for completing all quests.] 

It was the main quest that suddenly appeared. Abel could ignore the previous message, but this he couldn’t overlook. This is because the main quest is literally the core of the story. Not only is it given a much better reward than regular quests, but it was also quite important for the story progression.

‘If you fail, the penalty is quite high…..’

Abel calmed down his excitement and checked his surroundings with a calm face. The reactions of the other kids were different. Lian and Hannah were glaring though not the same way as Abel. Daniel, June, and Charlotte looked nervous. And Ioline and May didn’t belong to either.

‘Ioline was as calm as usual.’

On the surface, he had no idea what he was thinking. May wasn’t dozing off, but she was looking at the colossus fragment with a half-dazed face.

“Now,” Jacqueline said in a calm voice,  clapping her hand to gain attention.

“Come a little closer and observe.”

With that, Abel walked forward without hesitation, and the others followed suit. Suddenly, as the cadets approached, the blade’s tail straightened out.

Chirp-

A sharp metallic sound echoed as the tail dragged to the floor. The approaching cadets hesitated. Even though they knew they wouldn’t be able to escape, the sound put them on instinctive alert.

It raised its tail and it looked like it could burst through the gate at any moment especially its tail that thrashed around. However, some of them didn’t stop walking undeterred by the danger. In particular, Abel never stopped and walked straight to the barricade.

‘It’s not dangerous anyway.’ Abel thought to himself

It wasn’t just courage, it was because there was certainty. Those iron bars are not made of simple metal. It was invisible to the naked eye, but there was a magic barrier across the entire cage.

“Chirp…….”

This was because even when it saw Abel, its bladed tail approached right in front of him but it didn’t attack; it only let out a menacing howl.

‘Hmm.’ 

Abel stood at arm’s length and observed the blade tail closely. The beast, whose entire body was made of metal, had a different charm from a gigant. Despite its metallic nature, its body was beautifully curved, and its movements were surprisingly smooth.

‘In a way, it feels like a distant relative of the gigant……’

The Colossus was modeled after a gigant. This is because the fragments of the Colossus are derived from the gigant, although this is not fully understood. In a way, it can be said that they have the same origin. It’s a fascinating topic, and Abel could spend hours on it if he wanted to. But Abel did not forget his true purpose and turned to Jacqueline.

”Eight of us against one?”

”Yes. Even though it’s classified as a lower class, it won’t be that easy. Of course, the results of your performance will be reflected in your grades.”

Gigant training will begin in earnest tomorrow. In other words, they only have two weeks to prepare. Even if it was a special class with only elites, it would not have been easy considering the fact that they had to fight in two weeks.

Jacqueline continued, “Also, we will have to choose a leader. And additional points will be given to the person selected as leader.”

Everyone’s eyes lit up at those words. Of course, it was the same with Abel. The goal of the main quest was to take the leadership position.

‘As far as I know, it won’t be a big deal.’

Time will tell if the leader selection will proceed in the same way as the original game.

“Hey, can you move a little to the side?” Hannah said, patting him on the arm. It seemed like she could not see well because her vision was vaguely blocked.

“Oh, sorry,”

Abel apologized and turned to walk away, knowing he had already done enough observing. But just as he was about to step aside, he felt a strange sensation.

Thud.

The sound of his heart pounding. An unidentifiable feeling of discomfort followed, and for a moment, a wild heat surged from deep within his chest. Abel clutched his chest with one hand and instinctively raised his head.

Woof-.

The red-rimmed eyes of the blade tail stared straight down at Abel. Their gazes met midair. Its gaze was not simply that of an untouchable prey. Rather……

‘ …Why.’

Abel involuntarily backed away at the suddenness of the voice.

“Why? Why?”

“What’s going on?”

Hannah and Daniel asked, seeing him. Abel cleared his throat and was about to reply,

“I just……,”

But Daniel beat him to it, “Oh, did the crying startle you?”

Abel narrowed his eyes at those words and asked.

“Crying?”

“Yeah. It was certainly fierce. It’s the first time I have seen it this close.”

Daniel continued nonchalantly.

Abel didn’t hear any snare. All he heard was an unidentifiable voice. Abel swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew instinctively that what had just happened was not the kind of thing that he should talk about. So he shuddered, trying to keep his expression straight.

“Uh, I was looking at it up close and it startled me.”

“That’s understandable, you’re human after all.”

Daniel giggled. Abel chuckled moderately, then turned his attention back to the blade tail. The blade tail was curled up on the floor as if it never displayed any strange expression, but there was no time to ponder it further.

“That’s enough for sightseeing. Let’s get down to business.”

Jacqueline began the lesson.

“In this session, we will learn what the fragments of the gigant are and the characteristics of the blade tail. In two weeks, it will be of great help to you all, so listen carefully.”

The heat he felt in his chest had vanished without a trace Abel crossed his arms over his chest and concentrated on Jacqueline’s voice. Unlike the practical, he couldn’t get a good grade in theory without paying close attention.

Jacqueline’s voice continued

“Fragment of  gigants are closely related to the Colossus……,”

The students should have been bored, but they listened intently because the information was interesting. After an hour, the class was over. Normally, they would have headed to the cafeteria or their dorms, but not today.

This is because the question of who to choose as the leader remained. The eight members of the special class were all elite members of the elite, and they had no intention of compromising on leadership. Except for May, who said she was sleepy and left right away.

Jacqueline looked at the seven remaining cadets and spoke.

“There are two ways to choose a leader. The first is for each of you to vote for one, but I think that method seems to have been abandoned.”

“Oh, yeah,”

The cadets replied with a shrug, they talked about it for a long time after the class ended, still unable to choose a leader. Jacqueline turned to them and said

“Then we have no choice but to use the second method.”

“Which method is that?”

“You all are gigant rider candidates, right?” Jacqueline said with a faint smile as she looked at the cadets.

“In that sense, combat is the best method of resolving this.”

Infamous Scans

At the mention of combat, the cadets put on a bewildered expression. They wondered if she meant punching and kicking and fighting. Jacqueline continued.

“If you’re interested, come see me tomorrow evening at 8 pm. We’ll go over the details then.”

With that, she turned to her heel and walked away, not taking any more questions.

The cadets watched in disbelief as she walked out of the building.

»————- ★ ————-«

[Colossi are clear enemies of mankind. The third part of the continent is still their territory, and even with the powerful human power led by Gigant, they could not be completely defeated.  

A fragment of a colossus is a term referring to life forms similar to gigant, although it does not reach the size of a giant.  Its form starts with something resembling a beast…] 

Crunch-

In the empty lecture hall, only the sound of a pen rubbing against paper echoed.  Abel sat at his desk scrubbing away for a long time, until almost an hour later he put down the pen.

“Phew.”

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.  After the special class yesterday, he recalled the image of his body while washing up. A peculiar pattern suddenly appeared on his chest.

‘What is that?’

He wondered. It looked like a flame. He didn’t have a habit of looking at his body every day, but if he had a tattoo like that on his chest, he would have noticed it already, which meant it had appeared out of nowhere. And then there was a moment of doubt

‘That heat.’

When faced with the fragment of the Colossus. Abel felt a heat like a hot fire on his chest. And afterward, a mark appeared in the same spot. Even a fool can’t help but suspect a connection between the two, and a question naturally followed

‘Who’s body is this?’

Before he was given the name Abel by Vulcanus, he was called a beggar. He had never known or had the opportunity to learn the name of this original body.  When he first opened his eyes, he was lying in the street wearing rags as clothes.

Naturally, there was nothing on him to give away his identity, so Abel assumed he was just a homeless boy. But what if he wasn’t? What if this monstrous attunement wasn’t just a given?

Sigh. 

Abel wiped his face. It wasn’t a question he could solve right now. Still, he was certain that it was a reaction to encountering the fragment of the Colossus, and there were many things to do with the fragment of the Colossus in the future.

‘If there’s something really special about it……I’ll be able to sense it next time.’

There was no point in dwelling on this, though the symbols that had suddenly appeared would need to be investigated.

‘I’ll have to go to the academy library and look it up later.’

With that conclusion, Abel grabbed his notes and got up from his seat. But then. Someone walked into the classroom.

“Abel!” It was Daniel.

Next to him was Hannah, and she asked him as she watched Abel walk over with his notebook, “Have you been in the classroom this whole time?”

“I was doing some writing,”

Daniel interrupted.

“Wow. I was starving and went straight to eat.”

After class was over, Daniel kept asking him if he was going to eat, but Abel told him to go first.

“Anyway, are you confident about today?”

“The battle?”

“Yes.”

“It’s not my place to judge. We haven’t even heard how the battle is  going to be, have we?”

Abel had a hunch, but he hadn’t heard anything about how they were going to fight yet.

Daniel frowned and nodded, “That’s true. They could at least explain what we would be doing.”

“Well, let’s find out. Let’s go.”

“Alright.”

With that, the three of them exited the classroom building and headed back to the other building.

“I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”

“Isn’t it over there?”

After a bit of confusion, they made it to the building that housed the teachers’ offices and some special facilities. As they swiped their cadet IDs to enter, they were greeted by a familiar face standing at the stairs.

“Ah, here you are.”

It was the cadets from the special class.

Daniel walked over and said, “Sorry. I guess we are the last to arrive.”

“Yeah. I asked Instructor Jacqueline, and she told me to meet you at the back of the building when we’re all here.” Lian, a large but timid-looking man, answered Daniel’s question.

Once all eight of them were assembled, they all headed for the exit, which was directly opposite the entrance they had come in through, and the kids were soon surprised when they stepped through the door. What they saw behind the building was completely unexpected. A vast plain, much larger than the one they were using for their Gigant rider special class.

“Over here,” Jacqueline called out waving her hand and the cadets immediately walked towards her.

Titos were lined up behind Jacqueline.

Jacqueline turned to the cadets, who were still looking bewildered, “This is a simulated battlefield. Originally, it is supposed to be used for the second-year class.”

“A mock battle is…….”

“Riding these Titos is literally the mock battle.”

Jacqueline smiled and explained further.

“The Miles class and up have their own mock battlefield outdoors because they’re so big, but for the Tito class, this is enough.”

The mock battlefield was certainly large, it was large enough to open ones month, but it was not large enough to be used as a battlefield for the Milles class but it was enough for the Tito class Jacqueline continued.

“You’re going to have a mock battle aboard the Tito, and whoever comes out on top gets to be the leader. Simple, right?”

“What exactly are we going to do with it?”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you what you’re going to do with it.”

Jacqueline kindly answered Daniel’s question.

“The event is to capture the flag. It’s a training that real riders often do.”

Everyone was intrigued and curious by her words.  Except for one person.

‘It’s been a while.’ 

What Abel felt was more of delight than curiosity. The simulated battlefield also appeared in the game. To be precise, it was a series of mini-games within the game, and Capture the Flag was one of them. Abel was looking forward to it, but at the same time, he was also worried.

‘The kids shouldn’t be so excited.’

It would be a bad idea if he had to fight with a team member, but he will have to show an overwhelming difference in ability and kill his teammates.

“Now, I’ll start by giving 10 extra points to the person designated as the leader.”

[Rewards will vary depending on the overall score of the linked quest.] 

However, Jacqueline’s words and the message that popped up in front of Abel’s eyes immediately put his worries aside.

‘It’s an act of being rude to others.’  

Doing his best will benefit them.  Abel quickly completed a change of pace.

[To be continued.]