Chapter Three: Monica. Supposed Genius
For a while after his conversation with Marcel, Valen remained silent. From Marcel, he had learnt of the grades of body potential. Starting from the lowest to the highest, they were: Basic, Rare, Epic, and Super Body.
Even disregarding the Super Body, an Epic-grade body had not appeared in the surrounding kingdoms for close to a hundred years. As for an Epic-grade Body, the last one appeared about five years ago, belonging to a world-shaking genius. Before him, the record had been thirty years with no one possessing such high body potential.
Realising all this, Valen almost gave up hope. Although he did not know if his System was accurate, it had rated him as having an "F" potential. This was probably the lowest of lows, right?
Valen let out a breath of turbid air and could only shake away those thoughts. All this… he would find out once he stepped into the energised chamber to test his potential.
Just as an eerie calm settled in his heart, he felt a tap on his shoulder, followed by a whisper from Marcel:
"Look over there, isn't that Monica and her brother, Jude? Oh, there's also Sonia following behind."
Valen followed Marcel's finger and found three inconspicuous people approaching them. The one in the lead was a girl donning a long, loose white gown and a scarf over her head and face, revealing only her eyes as she walked. Valen recognised her as Monica.
Beside her was a dark-skinned young man wearing a white tunic beneath a black surcoat designed with red roses. He was Jude.
Further behind them was an honest-looking girl wearing a long black gown. Just like Monica, her face and hair were covered with a scarf. She was Sonia.
Valen was a bit surprised as he stared at them. They had just arrived in this world and had already procured local clothes for themselves. Yet, a deeper glance allowed him to understand the reason.
Behind Sonia were two people: a fat man and a middle-aged woman. Looking at how stylish the embroidery on their clothes was, he knew that they were incredibly rich, and for them to follow closely behind Monica's group signified that they were their supporters.
"Hey, Vale." Monica approached and greeted Valen in a soft tone, only nodding at Marcel before proceeding to ignore him.
Valen was not surprised by this "special" treatment. He could only smile bitterly inwardly while also greeting her in return: "Hey."
Monica could be considered the most beautiful girl in their high school and was the dream lover of many boys.
Even so, Valen did not really fancy her, though she had expressed her interest in him numerous times. She had a pretty face, granted, but most times, her dressing back then was just too revealing for his liking. This made Valen feel uncomfortable being with such a girl.
On one occasion, when she approached him and said she liked him, he had flatly rejected her and even said that in this life and the next—and all lives to come—he would never be with someone like her.
However, not only did she not give up, she began to distance herself from other boys and started dressing more modestly.
Even so, this made Valen even more suspicious. What did he have that could attract someone like Monica? A heaven's gift? He did not believe he was that charming.
And so… he avoided her and her brother, Jude, like the plague. Unexpectedly, even in this world, she had not only changed to the local style of dressing but had become even more modest.
Valen sighed inwardly while shifting his gaze away from her. Right now, he was only seventeen; it was better to focus on how to leave this world than on girls.
"Yo, if it isn't Captain Marcel and little friend Vale." Jude stepped forward and stood behind Marcel in the queue while greeting them.
Valen nodded with a smile. "It seems you lot have it quite easy—even getting yourselves new clothes."
"Haha, it's nothing. Just a rich couple who approached my sister, claiming to be vice-principals of a top-tier academy. They said she possesses high talent and, after the potential test, she can directly join their academy," Jude explained.
Valen was visibly stunned. From Marcel, he knew how difficult it was for females to become Combatants. On a normal basis, only one man in ten had the minimum body potential—Basic grade—to begin Body Integration, and the ratio for females was even more devastating: one in a thousand.
As for those who could reach the Second or Third Level of Body Integration, the ratio was one man in a hundred and one female in ten thousand. This showed just how treacherous and disadvantageous the path was for females.
Yet, those people claimed Monica had high potential. Would that not mean the ratio was one in a hundred thousand? Or even one in a million?
Valen coughed lightly and said in incredulity, "Then she's really fortunate to have a backer so soon."
He then turned to the quiet Sonia in the queue by the side. There were two queues: the main queue for the main entrance of the Energised Chamber and the side queue for the side entrance.
The main queue was occupied by males, and the side queue by females. The side queue was a short distance away, but compared to the main queue, it was like a drop in the ocean, as there were far fewer people.
Valen shook his head and stared ahead, remaining silent. The queue he was in was reducing rapidly, and soon it would be his turn to enter the Energised Chamber.
People kept pouring out—some with dejected expressions, others with excited ones. Those going in, however, wore slightly anxious faces.
Valen could see that they paid some kind of black coins to enter, and this made him worried, as he had no money.
However, he also saw some people entering without paying after signing a booklet, which made him somewhat relieved.
A minute, ten minutes, or an hour? Valen did not know how long he had waited until it was finally his turn.
The guard, clad in silver armour, stretched out a hand and spoke in a calm tone: "Fifteen Black Coins."
Valen acted like his predecessor and shook his head.
The guard remained unflustered and simply pointed to the side. Valen went there and saw a long booklet, a quill, and a pot of blue ink.
There were several names in the booklet, as well as the number of coins paid—if any—the amount left unpaid, and a fingerprint after each entry. Valen let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that the characters were in English.
Quickly dipping the quill into the ink, he wrote his name like the others, wrote "15" in the (Unpaid) section, and dipped his thumb into the ink before pressing it beside his name.
With that, he returned to the guard, who gave him a casual glance and handed him a black card.
Turning his focus back to the queue behind, the guard shouted, "Three spots left until this batch closes. The rest will have to come back in three hours."
Sounds of grumbling immediately rose from the crowd, but the guard gave them no heed and attended to the next three people. They turned out to be Marcel, Jude, and a white-haired boy donning a long red coat.
Valen decided not to head in, as he waited for Marcel and Jude. Unlike them, who had no money and thus incurred a debt, the white-haired young man immediately produced fifteen black coins and handed them to the guard.
Then the guard turned to the crowd. "Disperse."
Immediately, everyone began to leave, clear reluctance etched on their faces. Valen threw a glance at the side queue and, sure enough, they were not "full" like the main queue. Monica and Sonia had already gone in, as he could no longer see them.
Valen, Marcel, Jude, and the white-haired young man all stepped forward, eager to enter the Energised Chamber as quickly as possible.
"Neigh~" Suddenly, the galloping of horses could be heard as an anxious voice called out, "Dear friends, please wait!"
Valen and the others immediately turned to stare at the new arrivals. Four horses charged into the square with wild abandon.
Three neatly dressed young men leapt onto the square from their horses, while on the last one, a fat man struggled to get down. It was he who had called out earlier.
Immediately, the people in the square distanced themselves from these young men as if they had seen the plague. Fear was clearly etched on their faces.
Valen could see that the guard's expression had become solemn; his previous indifference was nowhere to be seen.
"Four young masters of the four great halls—greetings from this humble guard." The guard stepped forward with his right hand on his chest.
'This seems to be a kind of greeting,' Valen thought.
The fat young man waved his hand with a wide smile. "There's no need for the courtesy."
Then he turned his attention to Valen and the group, placed a hand on his chest, and said in a polite tone:
"I have just arrived and seem to have heard that the Chamber slots for this batch are all taken, and the next will be in several hours. I apologise for my late arrival, but I cannot bear the wait. Could you four please give up your slots? I will pay the original cost and add extra for the delay and inconvenience."
Valen did not know about the others, but he definitely was not giving up his slot. He had waited for a long time and could not wait any longer. So, placing his right hand on his chest, he said slowly and cautiously:
"I'm sorry, young master. However, I cannot take you up on this offer."
With that, he decisively turned around and headed into the chamber. His instincts told him these young masters were trouble.
Sure enough, before he could take a step inside, a cold, arrogant, and domineering voice sounded from the square:
"I do not know why Fatso is being so kind as to offer you money. Even so, you were foolish to refuse. Therefore, I, Young Master Edgar, command you to hand over your slots, and I might consider giving you a chance to become a servant at my side."