Chapter 2: Friends and Academy

Rewen sighed heavily as he looked at the hologram displayed in front of him. 

[Would you like to receive the 'Bloodline System'?]

[Yes] [No]

'Well, not really. Can I refuse?'

[The reward cannot be refused.]

'Again, then why bother asking?'

[Bloodline System has successfully been linked with the Host!]

[Ding! An immediate quest has been issued! Would you like to see it?]

[Yes] [No]

'I'll see the gains first.' Thinking about it for a few seconds, he tapped on 'Yes'.

… 

Quest Grade: E-

Details: Having a healthy breakfast is good for both body and the mind. Eating the meal in front of you and drinking 500 ml water after the meal would be the aim of the quest. 

Rewards: 0.075 ml Rank 0 Chaos Bloodline would be infused directly in your blood veins. 

Failure: None

… 

[Would you like to accept it?]

[Yes] [No]

'Not needed. I don't want to leave my humanity. Besides, who knows what kind of side effects the bloodline would have? Even if it doesn't, it would be too much of a risk to roam around with a bloodline that has not been recorded.' Although he felt like the system wouldn't harm him in any way, it wouldn't hurt to be more cautious. He sighed and pressed 'no'.

Declining the quest, he went on to have his breakfast. 

"Mmm… Cal sure has a talent for cooking. Not to mention, he is good at socializing, unlike that violent Denny. Now that I think about it, the previous me suffered a lot under her."

A few minutes later, he finished his breakfast and went to his bedroom picking up his bag. 

The moment he took half a foot outside his house, he saw a couple of youths wearing blue uniforms. Rewen instantly cursed his luck. Just as he was about to stealthily hide, a female noticed him. 

She waved at him. "Hey there, Rewen!"

Among the group, a guy also simultaneously noticed him. "Hm. Rewen? How come you're so early? Come, let's go to the academy together!"

Another girl from the group sneered. "Tsk tsk. Is it just me or does it look like you were trying to run away?"

Rewen's predecessor's best friend, Gill shouted in an attempt to make a joke. "What nonsense! How can the younger brother of a Special Class student run away!"

Everyone except for him awkwardly coughed. 

The girl who noticed Rewen first, Salica, glared at him. "It was just a joke, Gill. Why are you taking things on a personal level?"

Gill was confused that his poor joke wasn't taken well. "Eh? W-what… I didn't mean that…"

The first guy to notice Rewen, Junar, sighed. "Salica is right. Your EQ is too low. Why aren't you dead yet? That mouth of yours truly infuriates people to death."

Others expressed their consent. 

Gill grumbled. "How come I feel that the three of you are even worse?"

Meanwhile, Rewen sighed as he heard their conversation. 'I guess they count as normal…?'

Salica looked at the time and reminded everyone. "Alright, enough guys. Let's continue chatting while walking."

Eastern Dream Academy was not even half a mile away from Rewen's place, so it was very convenient for him to travel. Also, they, his middle-school friends, too live in the same area due to which, it's little coincidence that they run into him.

Eastern Dream Academy. 

After a few seconds passing through the academy gate, he found himself surrounded by countless cadets. Most of the cadets were first years, second and third years were in the minority. There is a reason for this. Being the top Magic Institution in the country, the graduation rate was below forty per cent! If the Academy decides that one of the first years is too incompetent, then he/she would be directly expelled. 

In turn, every cadet who successfully graduates would have a settled and high-society life. Take his sister for example. Having a 32% magic resonance with Ice, she was admitted to the Special Class - the class where cadets with high magic resonance would receive special attention. The moment she graduates, she is bound to be an important government official with high wages. The reason Rewen could even be admitted to the Academy was due to his sister. The annual fees for him were high and his elder brother could only afford them after their sister requested to give some concessions did the Academy lower the fees. 

Unlike his sister, Rewen was barely above average. He didn't have any elemental affinity. He had a 22% magic resonance with "Attraction" and "Repulsion" properties which is neither common nor rare. 

Junar waved his hands. "We'll be going then. Let's meet up after the classes!"

Staring at his four friends, Rewen smiled helplessly. 'Well, let's try to get along with them for the time being.'

"Alright."

Class 1-B.

Rewen entered the classroom and looked around. It was more than half-filled now. Some turned to look at the newcomer. Some were too busy in their hubbub. To those that turned to look at him, he returned a good-natured smile.

Rewen firmly believed social relations were important. 

Just as Rewen was about to introduce himself, a tall suave green-haired guy stretched his hands forward. 

"Zaplin Rodrigues."

He returned the handshake. 

"Rewen Klofar."

Zaplin appeared thoughtful and after a moment, he asked. "Klofar? As in Senior Denny Klofar?"

"Yes." Rewen then added. "She's my cousin."

After Rewen said that, quite a few secretly turned to look at him. After that, Zaplin chatted with him for a while before returning to his seat. Rewen learned from their conversation that Zaplin was assigned as the Assistant Monitor. 

He chatted with the nearby cadets and went to his seat. During this whole time, he noticed a girl occasionally eyeing him from time to time. 'Is it because of my sister? Not likely. Although she is popular and well-known among the first years and I'm her cousin, sitting in 4th Grade class alone shows that my abilities were at most above-average. Is she friends with her? Possible but in that case, she could directly approach me. Maybe it's because she's shy? But then again, what if that's not the case? Could she be interested in me? No, I don't have much confidence in my looks.'

As he went deep in thoughts, a voice rang beside his ear. "Are you thinking why I'm looking towards you from time to time?"

He looked at her smiling face. Suppressing his shock, he forced a smile. "I hope you won't make things difficult for me. I just didn't dare to bear heavy responsibilities if I had done the deed last night."

Initially, Rewen was unable to put two things in place together. Now that he managed to get a clear look on her face, his doubts fade away. 

The girl's smiling expression instantly went dim. "Hehe… good thing you remembered. Else, this Noble Devil would have to adopt some extreme measures." She emphasised the words 'Noble Devil' as if to induce fear and reverence into him. 

Unfortunately for her, Rewen didn't have the slightest expression of the word "fear" on his face. He just had a queer look on his face. "Don't tell me you wanted me to papapa'd you yesterday?"

The girl instantly blanked out. All of a sudden, the temperature of the room went down by ten degrees. After a moment, she calmed down but she had the look of disgust looking at him. "The mere thought of it makes me want to puke."

"So you were thinking about it." Giving an I-don't-talk-to-perverted-people glance, he turned around completely ignoring her existence. 

The girl had a calm look on her face, almost to the point of terrifying. Surprisingly, after looking at him for two seconds she walked away. Rewen didn't really care about her and instead took out a book from his bag and studied it quietly when all of a sudden, a prompt appeared in front of him. 

[Ding! The 'Male God System' has issued you an immediate quest.]

[Would you like to see it?]

[Yes] [No]

He almost jumped in surprise, then frowned and answered in his mind. 'No.'

[The Host is advised to see it.]

His frown deepened. His irritation from the sudden transmigration hadn't gone yet. 'This is getting a little annoying… alright, show it.'

… 

Quest Grade: B+

Details: Become friends with Luciana, a mid-ranked Fallen Devil. 

Rewards: Unknown

Failure: Unknown

Note - The quest would only be considered completed once the target's favourability reaches 25.

Current favourability of the target: -3

… 

'This is quite tricky. Originally, I thought the quest would be something like making her fall in love with me, after which I would directly reject the quest without any hesitation but now it seems I need to think further. Not to mention, this time there's no 'None' in Failure. But on the other hand, I also couldn't help remove the risk that this quest would upgrade once I complete the current quest and by then, it would turn something ridiculous altogether.

'There doesn't seem to be a time limit. I have no idea how severe the failure in 'Unknown' can be so it's better if just take advantage of this.'

With some hesitation and thoughts, he accepted the quest. 

Smack! 

He felt a sharp pain in his head. Anger boiled in his heart and he already prepared to return the pain to the other party without even looking at the person concerned. Interrupting his thought process by smacking him at the back of his head while he was irritated and preoccupied with several other things made him mad.

He coldly looked at the figure appearing in front of his eyes. The girl had a cheeky smile on her face. 

Zelic Dynette. His maternal cousin. 

"Waa~ Little Brother's eyes so scary…" 

"What is it? Also, it's Big Brother for you."

It's not that because she is a relative of his that he won't curse or act, just that he couldn't create a scene in the classroom. For the time being, he could only swallow his frustration and anger.