Chapter 4: Class S and the Four Continents
The Welcome Ceremony concluded with a display of pure, oppressive power.
As the top-ranked students were called to the stage, the "Golden Duo", the Rank 1 tie-breakers, stepped forward to lead the oath.
The High Demon Korgar moved like a shifting tectonic plate.
His skin pulsed with the angry orange glow of cooling lava. Beside him, Serafina, the Fallen Angel, unfurled her tattered black wings.
Her gaze promised slow, agonizing damnation to anyone who dared meet her eyes.
They stood like gods above a sea of monsters, looking down on the rest of us with a disdain that felt like a physical weight crushing the air out of the room.
I sat in the front row, my gold Rank 10 badge gleaming against my new formal Academy uniform.
It consisted of a crisp white shirt, a high-collared obsidian-black coat with crimson trim, and matching tailored trousers.
Being Rank 10 meant I was the elite of the elite. I was the very last name called before the "gods" took the stage, but I was also the only scholarship student to ever break the Top 10.
Behind me, the noble Orcs and Vampires did not just look at me with disdain. They looked at me with a murderous, jealous hatred.
After the ceremony, Rolf and I navigated the crowded halls toward Dorm 4B.
"Man, that Fallen Angel... her mana felt like a lead weight," Rolf muttered. He flopped onto his bunk and frantically unbuttoned his formal black coat.
"Rank 1... I am just glad I made it into Class S at Rank 45. But you? Rank 10? A goblin in the Top 10 is all anyone is talking about. Half the Orcs want to skin you just for taking that spot."
"Rank is just raw capacity, Rolf," I said, checking my reflection in a polished shield hanging on the wall.
The sharp cut of the formal suit made even this scrawny goblin body look sharp and predatory.
"The Academic System rewards efficiency, not just brute force. A waterfall has more mass than a spear, but the spear is what pierces the heart. I did not earn Rank 10 by being physically stronger than an Ogre. I earned it by being more lethal."
"Spoken like a true scholar," Rolf chuckled.
"But check the curriculum. We are both in the Combat Department, but they are forcing us to pick five electives just to stay in the elite tier. What is your play?"
I marked my choices on the parchment with a charcoal quill: Advanced Combat Maneuvers, Mana Manipulation, Monster Anatomy, Ancient Strategy, and Alchemical Theory.
"Anatomy?" Rolf raised a thick eyebrow. "Planning on being a medic?"
"I need to know exactly where the pressure points are on every species in this building," I murmured. "If I am going to conquer this place, I need to know their bodies intimately better than they do."
The next morning, the Great Dining Hall was a chaotic, terrifying hierarchy of hunger.
"Do not even look at the center tables," Rolf whispered as we entered in our formal attire. "The Orc nobles claim those. But then again, you are Rank 10. You actually have a right to be there."
"I do not care about their supposed rights, Rolf," I said, walking forward with a steady, calculated stride.
We walked right past a massive Ogre who was actively intimidating lower-tier students near the buffet line.
He growled, flashing yellowed tusks, but when his eyes landed on the gold Rank 10 badge pinned to my chest, he hesitated.
He hated me, but the number on my coat forced a primitive, undeniable caution into his thick skull. We claimed a prime spot near the very center of the hall.
"The food is brutal," Rolf complained, poking a slab of purple-tinted meat with his fork. "Tastes like iron and wet fur. But hey, it is high-protein. We will need it for the sparring pits."
"Eat it," I commanded, tearing into my own portion. "We have History and Strategy with Professor Hilde next.
After that, we have to change into our Combat Uniforms. That means loose tunics and reinforced leggings. If you are sluggish on the sand, you are dead."
The Class S lecture hall was a massive, tiered obsidian amphitheater. As I took my seat in the front row, my vision flickered with a warm, crimson notification.
{
[Target Identified: Kaelith the Silent]
>Academy Rank: 5
>System Difficulty: Rank A
>Species: Dark Elf (Shadow-Knight Caste)
>Favorability: 0 (Indifference)
>Submission: 0%
>[System Note]: Target highly values 'Martial Discipline.' Her severe emotional suppression makes her the perfect entry-level high-tier target.
}
Beside me sat Kaelith. Her formal uniform consisted of a crisp white shirt and the heavy black Academy coat, but instead of trousers, she wore a pleated black skirt.
Her long, liquid-silver hair cascaded down her straight back, and her twilight-colored skin shimmered flawlessly against the dark fabric.
The heavy stone doors slammed open. Professor Hilde marched in, her white plate armor gleaming like newly fallen snow. She walked directly to the podium and began calling attendance.
"Alistair Von Blood."
"Present."
"Korgar the Ash-Born."
"Here."
"Grik."
The cavernous room went dead silent. A few noble Orcs snickered in the back rows. "A Rank 10 goblin? The sorting Council must be senile."
Hilde looked up, her piercing blue eyes locking instantly onto mine.
"Present," I said, my voice perfectly steady.
"A goblin sitting in my front row with a Rank 10 badge," Hilde mused, her voice snapping through the air like a whip.
"Either you are the greatest tactical genius this Academy has seen in a century, or you are a very clever, very doomed liar. We shall see."
She tapped a heavy wooden cane against a massive, magical map illuminated on the wall. "Today, we discuss the Four Great Continents."
"First, The Monster Continent," Hilde began, tracing the dark landmass. "A land of eternal twilight. Here, we live by a strict meritocracy. Power is the only law."
"To the West, The Beastman Continent. A collection of wild, untamed tribes. They are our primary rivals in physical combat. They value 'Tribal Honor', which is a fatal weakness we can easily exploit."
She moved her cane eastward. "The Human Continent, ruled by the Holy Alliance.
Shared by Humans, Elves, and Dwarves. They hide like cowards behind 'Holy Magic.' They view us as a plague to be exterminated."
"To the North, The Dragon Continent. Home to the Dragon-kin.
A single one of their adults is worth a thousand of you. And to the South lies the Endless Maelstrom, a graveyard of storms that prevents any naval escape."
Hilde paused, her gaze sweeping the amphitheater. "Questions?"
A noble Orc stood up, his chest puffed out. "Professor, why have we not simply marched East and crushed the Humans?"
"The 'Hero' system," Hilde replied coldly.
"Every century, their God summons a soul from another world. These 'Heroes' possess absurd, cheat-like abilities that defy our magical laws. To crush them, we must learn to meticulously dismantle their tactics."
I felt a sharp jolt in my chest. Another world. I was literally the 'villain' in someone else's Isekai story. I needed to accelerate my growth immediately.
Hilde's icy eyes scanned the room again. "You, Grik. If you had to lead an invasion into the Beastman Continent, what would be your first move?"
"I would sever their supply lines and exploit their internal tribal rivalries," I answered smoothly, leaning back in my chair.
"I would manufacture a conflict to make them fight each other over their precious honor, and then simply sweep in to pick up the pieces of the broken victor."
Hilde stared at me for a long, silent moment.
"Cold logic. A remarkably rare trait in these halls."
She turned her back to the class, rolling up the magical map.
"Class dismissed. Head to the locker rooms and change into your Combat Uniforms. I expect you all at the sparring pits in exactly ten minutes."
I watched as Kaelith rose gracefully from her seat. The pleated black skirt of her formal uniform shifted fluidly as she moved toward the steep, winding amphitheater stairs.
Right on cue, the System chimed, the interface burning with a blood-red border.
{
[Domination Trial: The Knight's Underside]
>Objective: Catch a clear glimpse of Kaelith's undergarments during the crowded transition to the locker rooms without being detected.
>Reward: +20 LP, [Passive Skill: Sharp Eye].
>Failure Penalty: [System Backlash]: -5 Agility (Permanent) and a 24-hour lock on all System functions.
>[Immediate Consequence]: If detected, the Target's Favorability will drop to -50 (Hostility), likely resulting in immediate, lethal physical retaliation.
}
The hunt was not just beginning. It was already a high-stakes gamble for my life.