After a few minutes, all the students had gathered. Nova didn't actually know any of these people, though of course, Albert knew them all. Nova was only interested in two people standing at the front of the crowd, drawing hushed whispers from the others. The previous owner of this body, despite being the top student in liberal arts, had been a loner. Most people only approached him when they needed help with their studies, so he had no real friends to speak of except for Albert, whom he had known since childhood.
Nova nudged Albert and asked, "Who are those two big shots?"
Albert looked at him, surprised. "You don't know them? You really don't care about anything but your books, do you?"
Nova smiled to himself. The previous owner couldn't cultivate, so his only way out was to become a researcher or a scientist. He had studied so hard that he knew everything in those thick textbooks by heart, which was an advantage now—Nova didn't have to study. But the disadvantage was the massive gap in his knowledge regarding current events. Luckily, he had a sharp friend like Albert to fill him in, but Nova knew that in the future, he couldn't afford to be so ignorant; in this world, that was quite dangerous.
Unaware of Nova's inner thoughts, Albert began to explain. "Those two young ladies are geniuses from the Miller and Walker families, the two strongest families in the city. The girl on the left with the aqua-blue hair and eyes and that perfect, slender figure is Iris Walker. To the right, with the fiery orange-red hair, is Elena Miller. They are the twin stars of our academy and the dream girls of half the boys here."
Following Albert's gaze, Nova noticed the other boys staring at the girls with quiet, intense longing. The air around the two girls seemed different—cool and polished. Nova looked at them more carefully; they truly were top-notch, the kind of nation-toppling beauties you only see in movies.
Albert glanced at Nova with a smirk. "Interested?"
Nova shook his head, but in his heart, he thought, Hell no. "Those two geniuses have already attracted the unwanted attention of the Beast God Cult," Albert whispered, his voice dropping an octave as a cold draft seemed to sweep through the training hall. "They are only alive because no one expected them to be here—not the big forces, not even their own families. Geniuses like that are normally only born in the capital city."
Albert leaned in closer. "There are things the general public doesn't know. Let me update you. The public believes they are Rank 6 Awakeners, but they recently revealed they have already reached Rank 7 and just broke through to the Rank 8 Awakened realm."
Nova wasn't stupid; he immediately understood the weight of that information. The smell of sweat and floor wax in the gym suddenly felt stifling.
"Their families took advantage of the fact that no one expected such talent to be born in a Tier 4 city," Albert continued. "Most students here are at the early stages of the Awakened realm. Every few decades, a genius might appear at Rank 6, so everyone just assumed these two were the standard 'genius of the decade' types. It was a clever move to hide their true cultivation."
Albert smiled thinly. "Not many people know that the local Miller and Walker families are actually branch families of the massive clans in the capital. But now that the truth is out, the Beast God Cult will start making trouble. The capital families have already sent experts to protect them."
Nova's eyes narrowed as he watched the girls. Who cares about them? he thought. If the Beast God Cult started a riot, who would protect him? Those fanatics were crazy. The "Twin Stars" had elite bodyguards from the capital, but an ordinary person like Nova was on his own. He needed to get stronger immediately, or he wouldn't survive the two months leading up to the college exams. Once he was in college, the government and the schools would provide protection, and the danger would fade. He never even entertained the thought of failing to get into Star Rise Academy—he just had to stay alive until then.
Nova was deep in thought about how to survive when, suddenly, the entire hall fell into a heavy silence. He turned his head and saw a middle-aged man with muscles like corded iron walking toward them. The man moved like a beast stalking its prey, radiating an intimidating pressure that made the air feel thick and smell of old leather and ozone. The hair on Nova's arms stood up straight. He recognized this familiar aura—it was the presence of someone who had danced on the razor's edge of life and death for a long time.
Nova possessed a faint hint of this pressure himself after hunting fierce beasts for five days, but to release an amount this suffocating, one had to fight and kill at the edge of death for decades.
The fierce man stopped, his heavy boots echoing like hammer blows against the stone floor. "I am your instructor, Robin Hood. You can call me Instructor Robin."
Only a cold silence met his words. Everyone else was quiet out of pure fear, but Nova was silent because of the sheer shock. What the heck did he just say? Nova thought he had misheard the name, but in the Awakened Realm, the five senses are sharpened to a fine point. It was impossible to hear wrong. The only conclusion was that the man's name really was Robin Hood. Nova realized that in this world, the legendary Robin Hood of his old life simply did not exist.
While Nova was reeling, Instructor Robin finished his introduction. He announced that he was a Rank 1 Warrior Realm martial artist with decades of experience fighting both humans and beasts in the wilderness.
"Hurry up! Thirty laps in thirty minutes!" Robin barked, his voice vibrating in their chests.
The students were stunned for a moment, but the terrifying pressure from the man forced them into motion. Nova calculated the pace as he started to run; the instructor was basically telling them to cover a kilometer every minute. At this speed, anyone who did not use a movement technique could not dream of completing the task.
Nova knew this was the time to use his resources. He quickly spent 2,000 points to upgrade his Phantom Step from Proficient to Skilled, and another 2,000 points to bring his Sword Technique to Skilled as well. He was left with only 900 points. Following his rule of not attracting unwanted attention, he continued to act like a typical Rank 3 Awakened student, barely keeping up the required pace while the sound of frantic breathing filled the hall.
Just as Nova was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the instructor began to chase them from behind with a long wooden stick. Anyone who lagged behind felt the sharp sting of the wood—not hard enough to break bone, but far from a light tap. The students at the back scrambled to increase their speed. Nova stayed right in the middle, acting as if he were in constant fear of the stick's range. He put on a perfect performance, looking as though he were barely conjuring the strength to keep going. As he expected, no one suspected a thing.
After completing the laps, Nova collapsed onto the ground, bathed in sweat and gasping for breath just like the other Rank 3 students. In truth, he could still walk, although weakly, but he chose to lie there like a lifeless body to keep the act alive. The floor felt cold against his heated skin, and the air was thick with the scent of salt and exhaustion.
Things are different now. High-ranking members of the cult were likely already in the city to plan the assassination of Iris and Elena. In such a dangerous moment, he did not want to attract any eyes. If he were mistaken for a genius, he might end up on the same assassination list as those girls. Before the news of the "Twin Stars" leaked, Nova did not have to worry much; the cult did not care about a backwater Tier 4 city. Back then, only low-level members were here gathering useless information. But now that the big players were involved, Nova knew he could survive the aftermath of the trouble they would cause, but if he got caught in the direct crossfire, he would definitely die.