The room was not so large, yet not so small for three students, as they each had separate beds spaced out across the floorboards of the room, a separate wardrobe which held three uniforms each, and then a bathroom towards the end of their room which held the basic amenities they would need to survive the academy.
And not so long after they had settled in did their watches appear.
A few knocks at the door, which Seoul instantly answered, taking the three boxes from the large military humanoid robot standing outside.
He moved to the others and handed them their own piece, thanks to their names being labeled on each box.
Thors felt the heaviness of whatever was in the square, blue-tapped box handed to him. It was fairly heavy for a watch, yet definitely small enough to fit in one’s palm.
Thors tore open the box carefully, through the wrappers and down to the contents within.
At the end of his dig he stared at what seemed like a sleek digital wristwatch, its rectangular display glowing with bright LED numbers.
He turned to Seoul for a moment, only to see the handsome man already strapping the watch onto his left wrist.
Same went for the other boy, who did not spare the watch a second thought.
’Here I was thinking we would all spare a moment to savor it,’ Thors mused, doing the same, strapping the lightweight black resin of the watch comfortably around his wrist.
"..."
Thors lingered, growing wide-eyed. He found it hard to believe, but...
Had the watch just tightened itself onto his wrist?
[Ding!]
[Foreign material detected]
[Inspect: Tracker]
[Information: No further information can be produced from the user’s current level.]
This was it, the holographic screen had appeared again.
Thors’s gaze narrowed at the screen and the information it read. ’The watch is obviously a tracking device to keep tabs on students, so it’s going to be hard to take off without permission. It might even send a signal to the higher-ups if forcefully deactivated or torn off.’
All that was just theory, of course.
Thors raised a finger toward the system, then dropped it back down, careful not to draw suspicion from the others in case they were watching.
’What is this? Uhhh... System?’
No reply came. Instead the already-existing status screen faded into nothingness, as if in mockery of Thors.
’Curses... What are you? You bastard system! Give me information!’
[You have attained the Primordial System.]
[System lineage: the god of Thunder]
[User: Thors Godfrey]
[Race: Superhuman]
[Status: Dormant]
[Charisma: 0]
[Lineage Core: 0/100]
[Abilities: The One That Stands With Lightning — Description: Many had fled when the gods chose to test them with the horrid death of lightning, but only one stood, and that one had incurred the blessing of the unknown rather than the curse many expected. (Status: Weak)]
Thors blinked a few times, taking in the long list of information displayed before his gaze.
The curiosity in his eyes was clearly written. The reason the system had come into his grasp was unknown to him, the only clue being the strange obsidian rock, whatever it truly was.
Another thing that caught the young Godfrey off guard was the meaning behind his Charisma and Lineage Core stats. And what did his status of "Dormant" really mean?
Staring at everything once again, the young Godfrey found himself rather lost for thoughts and words on how to make sense of the system.
Especially when his eyes drifted to the end of the notification, to the description of his ability.
It felt somewhat...
’Enigmatic — almost as if my ability is some kind of tale.’
"..."
’Still,’ Thors shifted slightly on his bed, ’what is the purpose of the Primordial System?’
Unfortunately, he got no answer.
In the end, with nothing but a tired smile, he dismissed the status screen before him, knowing that for now he would just have to be proud of how much information he’d already gathered.
He decided to sleep early, seeing as tomorrow was his first day at the academy, and he preferred to face it with everything he had prepared.
Same went for Seoul and the other boy, who had already tucked themselves into their beds, shifting into comfortable positions.
Seoul did not fail to throw a shameless wave toward Thors, catching him mid-stare.
’Shit... Shit... Now he’ll think I’m some sort of creep.’ Thors quickly turned the other way, avoiding Seoul’s teasing gaze entirely.
Thankfully his bed was at the far end of the room. Seoul’s was in the middle, and the third boy’s was at the sole remaining end.
’And this,’ Thors grunted hopelessly, ’is going to be a very long academic year.’
***
Morning had finally come, and just like any other room, all three boys took their turns to freshen up, don their uniforms, and prepare to head out.
Fitting into his uniform, Thors looked like a toothpick wrapped in a large piece of clothing.
’How comfortable. I should just assume I’m wearing a parachute.’
Still, the strangest thing happened in the very next seconds, the uniform seemed to shrink right down to a perfect fit on his frame.
The long-sleeved black top, alongside the pair of thick green military-style trousers.
It was... perfect.
Thors turned to his other two roommates. Seoul was already done, waiting for him and the other boy to finish.
"Hurry up, bro, the earlier we get to the cafeteria the better," Seoul said to the other boy, immediately drawing a scowl from him.
"Don’t talk to me like we’re friends. I know what I’m doing," he said, straightening himself as he finished dressing, then shot Thors a disgusted glance before stepping outside, the door slamming shut right after him.
Thors only stared. There was nothing else to do. He had no idea why the young man was so angry in the first place, and honestly it wasn’t worth the bother. After all, rising in life meant making questionable enemies along the way.
Seoul rolled his eyes and gestured at Thors, an excited smile stretching across his handsome face. "Shall we?"
Thors nodded, and with that the two of them left their room.
The halls beyond were rather crowded, filled with male students, many dressed and headed the same way as them — toward the cafeteria.
While they moved, Thors had enough time to think once again about the system, and how yesterday’s test had gone.
’The only thing I did properly in yesterday’s test was the first and the third... I can tell I did exceptionally on the third one. Still, I wonder how high I’ll be rated for it,’ Thors rubbed the back of his head and sighed.
’Shit, I didn’t even pay attention to how the examiners reacted, whether they were surprised, impressed, or just unmoved.’
However, as Thors and Seoul stepped into the cafeteria, something very unsettling began to take shape.
At first it was just noise, rounds of tables filled with students arguing and whispering, passing information from one to another.
Among the students, nothing seemed wrong at first, but as Thors finally reached the counter, he began to notice it.
Gaze after gaze, attention started to shift toward him and Seoul.
At first it was a small, negligible amount, but after leaving the counter, the weight of attention on them both grew unmistakable.
Thors could tell, something was awfully wrong somewhere.
"They’re staring," Seoul whispered to Thors.
"Why? I didn’t do shit to them," Thors snapped back.
"I don’t think that’s why they’re upset..." Seoul’s words hung in the air, his tone heavy and monotonous.
Thors glared at the young man for a moment with a questioning look, then his eyes shot up toward wherever Seoul’s attention had gone.
"What the hell—" Thors’ mouth nearly slacked open, his throat going dry as he read.
Leaderboard of Top 10 Students...
...Number 6. Thors Godfrey...