"Chuck! Wake up!"
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"WAKE UP!!!"
Chuck immediately jolted out of shock. He looked around continuously like someone that lost their memories.
After a series of gasps, and coughs, trying to spit out the sandy soil that he almost devoured, he was finally beginning to come to his senses. He looked around him and could see that the sandy area that was supposed to be in contact with him was no more.
Taking a close look at the soil, he noticed that some part of it was visibly red hot, and Chuck could also see several shards of glass scattered around him.
Raising his head to get a better view of his surroundings, he could see Kaiden standing even farther than she was initially. She was drenched in sweat, as though she just ran a marathon.
Kaiden could see that Chuck was finally awake after calling out to him several times. The heat from the flames that shrouded his being was so intense that she had to take a few steps back.
"Hey Chuck," Kaiden called out with a concerned look, "are you okay? It seemed like you were about to start up a glass production factory."
"Wha… a glass what?" Chuck asked, still in a little bit of shock.
"You dumb shit," Kaiden facepalmed, "when you melt sand, it turns to glass. Are you okay?"
Chuck began to inspect his body. Internally dreading that he might find burn marks on him, he swiftly took off his shirt. Checking his whole body thoroughly, Chuck couldn't find a single burn mark on him. He didn't feel any pain whatsoever either.
"Ohh that's a relief. It seems like the infernal shroud is really as efficient as I surmised."
The system screen opened up in Chuck's view, greeting him with several notifications.
*Ding*
/ Harelm energy>> 54/100 /
/ Exp>> 110/100 /
/ Congratulations, you have maxed out your exp /
/ Level upgrade will now commence /
Chuck smiled as he read the contents of the message, but his joy was short-lived. He immediately felt a shooting pain in his chest, which caused his knees to buckle.
The pain on his chest was so intense that it seemed like his heart was on fire. Gritting his teeth, and clawing at this chest, all he wanted was for the searing pain to subside.
Chuck tried to scream, but no sound came out of his mouth.
Kaiden saw that Chuck had fallen to the ground. It was so sudden that she flinched back in surprise.
"H… hey Chuck, are you okay? What's happening? Is it the pain from my attack?" Kaiden yelled, but all she could see was Chuck lying on the ground, and holding his chest in a state of excruciating agony.
Seeing that Chuck needed help, she quickly advanced to his position, but didn't get close. Chuck's skin tone changed progressively fast, the color of his skin became red, making it seem like streams of larva were coursing through his veins.
Chuck, still in a tremendous amount of pain, felt the burn on his chest subside, spreading to other sections of his body. The pain spread out, making every square inch of his body feel like it was close to the surface of the sun. In accordance with the pain that he felt, the thickness of the reddish hue that Chuck's skin emitted became even more intense.
After about forty five seconds of untold agony, Chuck felt the pain disperse. It vanished as quickly as it came. The reddish tone of his skin died down, and nerves became calm.
Chuck gasped, his chest going up and down at a fast pace. Kaiden saw that Chuck was finally stable, and without any form of hesitation, she rushed over to him.
Kneeling on the ground that now comprised of moulded up sands and glass, she held him with care, checking his body over and over.
"You just had a break through didn't you? Are you feeling okay?" Kaiden asked, embracing Chuck like a sick child.
Chuck could feel Kaiden's hair on his face, the softness of her mild skin, and the hypnotizing scent that she emitted.
"Now I can see why all the guys in the combat class talked like she was some kind of goddess… it's because she is one," Chuck thought, feeling Kaiden's warm embrace.
"Chuck, I said, are you feeling okay!" Kaiden yelled out.
"Ohh yes… I am. I'm feeling more than okay, I'm feeling great," Chuck said, coming out of his reverie.
Chuck stared at Kaiden, as an awkward silence emerged slowly…
*RING* *RING* *RING*
The long stare was quickly interrupted by a deafening sound that could be heard all over the academy. For a moment, Chuck thought it was his system sound.
*ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS. YOU ARE TO QUICKLY PAUSE WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING, AND HEAD OVER TO THE MAIN FIELD, STAT. AN ANNOUNCEMENT IS TO BE GIVEN TO YOU ALL.*
*I REPEAT, YOU ARE TO QUICKLY… *
Hearing this, Kaiden slightly pushed Chuck away from her. Chuck felt his head leave a certain softness, making him groan internally.
Kaiden stood up and composed herself, into a tough high ranking student.
"I think we better head to the main field right away," Kaiden said, adjusting her clothes.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why don't you head there by yourself. I'll see you later. And besides, you wouldn't want everyone seeing the both of us standing side by side right?" Chuck said, not even realizing that Kaiden's gaze was focused on his bare chest…
She hesitated for a while, but eventually agreed. Taking her leave, Chuck wasted no time as he quicky opened his system interface.
/ Congratulations, user, you have leveled up! /
/ Level>> LV 1 /
/ Congratulations, user, you have received a skill : Infernal craft /
Infernal craft: when activated, the user can create any weapon of his choice, from the essence of the immortal Harelm energy. The potency and power of the weapon depends on how much energy is used to create the weapon /
Chuck read the information under the new skill he just got, and his smile grew larger. If someone saw him, they would have thought he was a clown that was hired to entertain children.
/ Name>> Chuck Nectar /
/ Race>> human /
/ Class>> mage /
/ Stage>> neophyte /
/ HP>>8/10 /
/ level>> LV 1 /
/ Exp>> 10/200 /
/ Skill>>
Infernal shroud: LV 1
Infernal craft: LV 1
/ Harelm energy pool>>> 71/100 /
/ Mana pool>>100/100 /
"Well at least my Harelm energy is increasing at a fast pace."
/ The system has decided to gift the user an additional reward /
"Ohh shit! This is perfect. Two rewards for a single level up? Perfect! It almost seems too good to be true. What baffles me the most is that I don't even know anything about the origin of the system"
"But I can't check it out right now," Chuck said, still hearing the announcement sound coming from the speakers that he couldn't even see.
Closing the interface, he turned around and headed to the main field, bracing himself for the potential bullies he might stumble upon.