Chapter 56: Through the Gates of Ambition

November 26th, early in the morning.

"..ake ..p"

"Hm?"

Rein slightly peeked his eye open seeing a blonde-haired girl standing at the end of his bed, tugging on his legs.

"Wake up! We're gonna be late!" She yelled, continuing to tug on his legs trying to pull him out of bed.

"Mm, 5 more minutes…" He uttered, beginning to drift back to sleep.

Suddenly, he felt a jolt at his foot, electrocuting him awake.

"Ow, sheesh okay. I'm coming…" He reluctantly got out of bed, Chloe mustering up her strength to produce a small jolt of lightning to wake Rein, which she had been training to do for the past 3 days.

"So you finally got the hang of the lightning? Look's like your Spring's gotten stronger," he said as he took off his pajamas and wore one of his new outfits.

"I wouldn't say I've got the hang of it, but I can use it in small quantities," she explained as she walked out of his bedroom and waited.

The day before, Rein had gone clothes shopping and bought himself a new outfit to wear at school, one that would fit his System Take-Over form.

It was a white scarf that protruded out of two ends of his neck, flowing down to his waist, with glossy red outlines near the ends. A black sleeveless shirt with black cloth gauntlets that reached up to his elbows, both of them having red glossy outlines striped across them. He wore a red buckle belt that connected his half black half white pants, with red boots that reached up to his shin.

"Alright, let's go," he walked out of the room with haste, followed by Chloe who was leaning against the wall in wait.

As they descended the building, they peaked at their friend's rooms, all vacant as the two were running late.

"Hey, do you know where they put Xenia's room?" Rein inquired.

"She's living in the principal's home behind the dorm. The principal was nice enough to share her living quarters with her because she didn't have the budget to build a new room. Although, I have a feeling the principal is enjoying it more than Xenia is," Chloe spoke with a nosy expression, feeling bad for her friend.

They made it to the ground floor and saw Raxo, Saphrilla, and Emria exiting the elevator, coming up from the basement floor.

"Rein and Chloe?! Why are you still here? School starts in 5 minutes!" Emria scolded as they ran past them, speeding up.

"Yeah we know! Bye girls! I might be late because of my meeting with the principal, so don't wait up for me!" He yelled as he and Chloe ran out of the dormitory, Chloe waving at the girls as they caused a gust of wind in their wake, running at immense speeds to reach the academy.

"Did you get a red ring for Raxo too? You know, so that she can build some gadgets with her Spring?" Chloe inquired after seeing one on Raxo's hand.

"Yeah, Core was able to get me one more. They're made out of incredibly rare materials, so they're really expensive. I'm gonna need to start buying them with my own money from now on. Who knows, maybe I'll buy one for you eventually," he laughed, his remark making her slightly blush, as she read too much into it as always.

When they arrived at the main entrance, they noticed a swarm of hundreds of people in front of the large, wooden door. There were ample of different races there. Most of them were humans, but there was the occasional elf, dwarf, and even rarer, half-elves, gnomes, and orcs. Creatures from all different species gathered in wait for the opening of the doors of Ranger academy, waiting for their chances to set foot in the magical establishment that will bring their dreams to fruition.

Rein hadn't forgotten his goal, in fact, his last endeavor has reinforced his resolve even further. This was merely a stepping stone for him. The school existed to offer him all kinds of different Springs for his System, earning experience and leveling up for the sole purpose of exacting his revenge. He had now seen firsthand the horrors that awaited him and the unrivaled strength of his opponents. He didn't care about their intentions, nor did he care about the intentions of those around him. As long as he could move forward with his vindication, he didn't care who he befriended. He was drunk on revenge and was willing to do whatever was necessary to achieve it, as long as it did not trouble the innocent people around him.

As he stopped in front of the school, he felt his blood boil with uncontrollable emotion. Excitement, anger, and fear made his System activate unconsciously, causing the ground to shake, turning the crowd to face the two who stood behind them.

"H-hey Rein? Are you okay?" Chloe tapped his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance, breaking the red glow that resided in his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine… Sorry about that, I didn't mean to cause trouble," he said, looking back up at the crowd that had just parted in front of the two.

Rein and Chloe walked in the path that was created, hearing whispers coming from both sides of the crowd.

"Hey, isn't that the guy who won the entrance tournament?" One student whispered.

"Yeah, I hear he got a free ride and a room on the top floor of the dorm. He'll probably be able to open the door like those other guys..."

"And that girl beside him is the malicious princess of Orhtlys. Ugh, I feel disgusted being born the same year as her."

The students gazed at her with scornful eyes, which loomed into her soul like an abhorrent spear twisting into the depths of her consciousness. She could feel all of their loathsome emotions towards her, as if she was trapped in a room that was slowly closing on her, closing her eyes to escape the trauma that she was experiencing. She grabbed onto Rein's hand, continuing to close her eyes tightly as if she was bracing for something to hit impact on her.

Rein could feel her soft and small, cold and sweaty hand as he tightened his grip on it, loosening her expression as he whispered something to her.

"You don't have to worry anymore. I can control earth. If a rock ever comes flying at you, I'll send it right back," he reassured her, making her able to finally open her eyes, facing the gaze of over a hundred students.

It was as if her fear was gone. She felt safe around him, almost as if he sucked all of the fright out of her body.

As they continued down the path, they reached the large auburn door that the other students crowded around, which nobody had opened. Rein slowly held his arm out and pushed on the door as it creaked open, everyone in the crowd gasping in amazement.

"As we thought, he opened it!" One student blurted as Rein and Chloe walked inside.

"Quick! Run in before the door closes!" All of the students screamed, cramming themselves through to get to the door.

As they touched the threshold, the crowd of students were repelled by a mysterious force, continuing to outrage as the door closed on all of the students, shutting them off from Rein and Chloe, who stood in a small, dimly lit room.

Rein let go of her hand and inspected the metal door in front of them, a machine suddenly popping out of the ground.

"Please place your hand on this panel to register. Remove all gloves or clothes around your palm."

Rein followed its instructions, then Chloe did as well, placing their hands on the panel, which then scanned them with a green light, confirming their identities then retracting back into the ground, dispensing two tablet-looking objects. One for Rein, the other for Chloe.

Suddenly, the metal door in front of them flew upwards, opening by sliding vertically. The light from the school's foyer shone on their eyes as they entered, looking around the large room to see loads of other students standing around the vast area they were in, a bunch of them in groups and some standing alone.

"Ah, If it isn't our finalists. Welcome, I believe you two are the last to arrive," said a bespectacled black-haired man standing atop a podium. "Everyone be silent! Without further delay, I will begin the introductory speech for Ranger academy!"