“This needs to be done or else she would only get hurt.”

 

“Well it’s for her good so she should understand right? But why do I have this feeling that she won’t?” 

 

Akira was currently standing outside Haruno's house, he was thinking whether it was a good idea to talk with her right now or leave it to the uncertain future. But after some deliberation he decided to finish it today and try to make her understand.

 

KNOCK KNOCK

 

“Coming” A female voice came from inside, he knew it was not haruno but her mother.

 

A lady in her 40s opened the door, she had normal black hair tied in a bun out of which several white strands could be seen flowing out, black eyes which had dark circles underneath them and her face had wrinkles which added to her overall looks, she was definitely someone who worked hard.

 

“Hello aunty.” Akira greeted her and she nodded.

 

“Is Haruno home?” He asked and that got a frown on her face, she was definitely not happy with the situation.

 

“Yes she is but why are you asking?” Her voice was a bit rough and unclear? Maybe her throat was sore.

 

“I had something to ask her, it’s related to the academy.” He could see that he was not liked much by her and all of it could be attributed to the original owner of this body who had done shitty things.

 

“What is it about? I can ask her.” She asked him. 

 

“It was like this that she-” He replied with a bitter smile when a voice came from inside,

 

“Who is it okaa-san?” It was haruno.

 

“It’s Akira, he wants to ask you something.” Her mother replied.

 

“What!” 

 

THUD

 

And a loud sound of something dropping came from inside. She was a klutz sometimes but it was cute.

 

“Okaa-san why didn’t you tell me?” Haruno, who came running to the front door, asked her mother.

 

“Haruno, did you fall down and hurt yourself?” Her mother asked to which she shook her head and said,

 

“No okaa-san it was kuro’s doing but why are you standing him there and not letting him inside?”

 

“That cat is getting punished and Akira just wanted to ask you something. Moreover, I don’t want him to come inside.” Her mother snorted and looked at him.

 

Previous Akira was really a famous guy, famous in negative connotations and now the present guy has to bear the consequences because of that.

 

“Okaa-san what are you saying? That’s not a nice thing to say.” Haruno said.

 

“It’s fine haruno, can we talk for a minute?” Akira interjected, he wanted to finish this quickly and go to his house.

 

“Okaa-san can we go inside?” She asked.

 

“Yes but only in the living room and Akira?” She directed her gaze towards him.

 

“Yes mam?” It was clear that she was not very enthusiastic about him being here.

 

“Five minutes and I want you out of my house.” Her gaze is really scary.

 

“Yes I will remember.”

 

They went inside the house and he sat down in her living room which again had quite a good cozy atmosphere. It was like something you could find only in places where people were really happy.

 

While he was looking around her house she said something totally unexpected,

 

“Umm Akira-san I had something to say too.” She was fidgeting a lot and was not comfortable even in her home.

 

“Oh and please go ahead haruno-san.” 

 

“No-no you said first so you go ahead.” She said while quickly shaking her hands.

 

“It’s your home haruno-san, you should go first.” 

 

“If you say like it then okay, It’s uhh… how should I say it.. I- I won’t be able to talk to you.” She blurted out the last part which almost flashed by his ears.

 

“Sorry what?” He was confused by her antics.

 

“Uhh hehe… I am really sorry Akira-san but from tomorrow onwards can we not talk with each other when inside the academy.” She was looking downwards the entire time and her voice was not the usual one.

 

“Oh..” He said and though,

 

‘That’s weird but hey isn’t this why I came here? Well if she wants to make my job easier then be it. I was already afraid as to what would be her reaction but here she is the one taking the lead.’

 

“Okay haruno-san.” He replied and stood up from his place.

 

“Huh? Aren’t you going to ask anything?” She asked, her eyes were redder and bigger than usual and were looking for his answer.

 

“Hmm? No it’s your decision and I am no one to question that.” He said and waited for her response but her mother came before that,

 

“Five minutes are up.” 

 

“Yes.” He said and made his way out of their house and since they were living quite close it didn’t take much time for him to reach home.

 

Back with Haruno she was not really feeling good, no calling it that would be a heavy understatement, it was like something inside her had cracked and was hurting her. She couldn’t really describe the feeling but one thing was sure that she hated it.

 

Today after she invited Akira to his group and was rejected by her group, they said a lot of things to her, things which were true and things didn’t think much about before. She called him to her group as it would make them spend more time but she didn’t think about the ramifications of her action.

 

Her group member told her how their group would be at disadvantage due to his reputation and how no other group would like to work with them in the future and how adding another E section guy was not feasible for them.

 

She also understood that her own image would be damaged if she continued interacting with him and that was something which mattered to her. On one hand it was an opportunity to become someone stronger and help her parents who were working so hard for her, especially her mom who had been affected by a disease and her only chance of curing her was to go into a dungeon and get the required herb and on the other side was him.

 

And she wasn’t an anime character who would choose a guy over her dreams and family, it was stupid, plain utter stupid. Humans are not like shown in those animes and even though she’s not that bright in head she understands that.

 

Moreover if she was someone stronger like that Richard or Drake guy she had seen in the top classes she wouldn’t have done that to him as in this world Might was right. You could do almost everything provided that you had strength backing that.

 

When she told him that she wouldn’t be able to talk with him inside the academy or elsewhere in public she was expecting him to be angry and disappointed, she was expecting him to yell at her but he didn’t, instead all he had was a relaxed face, was he expecting it?

 

It would have been better if he had said something, showed some of the emotions but he said nothing and that was disturbing her. If only she was stronger, strong enough to do what her heart said.

 

“If only I was stronger.” Then unconsciously tears started falling down from eyes and she fell into the embrace of rest.

 

Sleeping after crying is the best, right?

 

Akira was back in his home eating the yet again delicious dinner prepared by her mother, she was so good at it. The family asked how was their day today and if something happened. It was the best feeling for him as this was the only place where he could be himself.

 

It was the only place where no one judged him based on some silly rumor, well it’s not that silly and has some pith and substance to it but still no other place beats home.

 

While in his room he couldn’t sleep and decided to fiddle with the system attached to this world.

 

“Status.”

“Not bad, not bad my swordsmanship has definitely become better. It was level 7th when I started out and now it’s 3rd but how in the world has my archery become so good?”

 

“Ahh, it must be due to the bow I made out of blue flames earlier. Those flames are really something to behold.”

 

Even though his stats were better than before there was a problem, a big problem. He had no innate skills and they were something which were absolutely necessary if you wanted to become stronger.

 

Not only does innate skill help you gain proficiency in the desired weapon but it also gives you an edge over others. Lily’s innate skill of ‘Sword saint’ was not only for show as it gave her the ability to cut through any and all things, which included abstract things like darkness, reality, time, space, gravity and others.

 

Her’s was truly a wonderful gift bestowed by the developers to make a true fit for the protagonist. But here he was with none of them, sometimes it made him doubt whether he was really a villain or not?

 

He was the villain but only in personality, the previous guy had some strength and for him that was more than enough, he was a frog in the well and due to his overconfidence and negligence he lost to the protagonist. 

 

There was another problem, his Iron bloodline, if he wants to ascend the rankings and go above the tier one then he at least needs to have mithril.

 

“Do I really have to go to that place?”

 

Next day at the academy

 

This was the first time ever theory exams were conducted for the first years and to say that they were tense wouldn’t be the complete truth. They were tense, anxious, apprehensive and worried about the upcoming exam.

 

There were two reasons for it, first was that the marks and the subsequent ranks were very important for getting into that ‘intensive training’ program of Laura. So the ones who couldn’t do well in the physical exam had a good chance there and secondly the overall marks scored by them in the mana simulation room and theory would be clubbed together to form a rank.

 

Every student would be given a rank which would to some degree showcase how talented he or she is and subsequently would be approached by the various factions who are still on the lookout for appropriate talent.

 

The rank system in the academy is actually two fold, one being the inter year rank given among the same year students and the other being the intra year rank which is also the overall rank of an individual in the academy and as one could guess the third years dominated this list.

 

Evelyn Maddock the student council president was ranked one, Ichinose Miyamoto the vice president was second and so on. The intra year ranks were much more sought by the students as this not only allowed them more exposure among the others but also helped them in getting involved with groups of higher classes.

 

For example, if someone was from second year but was ranked around 80s in the intra year ranking then he could very well be approached by a mid tier third year group and hence would increase his connections and get an opportunity to dive deeper into the dungeons, something he couldn’t do alone or with weaker groups.

 

Oh and the prominent factions would also try to entice them, like how the president and vice president has a huge following not only in the Origin academy but also in the other academies in and around the Origin continent and it is safe to say that they have quite a lot of ‘secret admirers’.

 

That’s why when the bell to start the examination rang everyone sitting inside the classrooms gave their utmost attention and undivided focus to the question paper in front of them. 

 

There were sounds of pencils and pens scribbling on paper, invigilators pacing back and forth and the tick tock of the clocks that were placed in the classrooms. The tension in the air was quite apparent and many sighs and clicks of tongue could also be heard coming mainly from those who were not satisfied after looking at the questions.

 

And yet there was Akira sitting at the back bench of the E section classroom gazing at the outside view. There were a lot of things going on in his head and this exam was the last thought among them, the exam questions were not that tough for him and he could score 85% given his prior knowledge of this world and the studies he had done in the public library over the last week.

 

So why was he not writing? There was this conundrum of whether to showcase his true abilities or not? One part of the plot of this world has been already amended by him and had costed the mc Richard one new skill and the subsequent popularity and student admiration he would have gained after defeating Akira.

 

There was also the fact the if he scored good then maybe, just maybe the first year groups would try to invite him to their groups but the possibility of some low grade second or third year group to join their group as a temporary member was quite high given the fact that they don’t really believe in those rumors and if that group was something related to the next plot then God save the plot of this world.

 

Also for him solo diving was much better than group diving as he has reduced responsibility of looking out for other members and there would be greater freedom. Sure he could turn down all the offers of groups inviting him but what about Laura’s invitation of intensive training?

 

That training was not an optional thing. It was required by academy’s rulebook that the top rankers had to do this, sure he could slack off after joining the program and would drop out later but still to be in close contact with half of the main cast for more than one month? 

 

That was a disaster for the recipe given the famous Butterfly effect where a single unconscious action done by him or decision taken by him could do major damage. So why doesn’t he just drop out of the academy if there are so many things to consider?

 

Well he could technically but dropouts from an academy here in this world were similar to being banished or being fugitive. 

 

The academy was a place where everyone wanted to be but couldn’t be and when there was someone who dropped out of that place, let’s just say that the public and society doesn’t treat him or his family very nice as they think that you have wasted one seat and all the resources spent.

 

So then should he continue hiding his abilities and act like that or truly become a NPC? No he can't do the latter as that option had already gone off the rails with the bullying that was started. Then does this have to continue and there is nothing he can do?