"Yo, you gonna call someone from 3-A now, nerd? I thought that you liked to be a rat."
"Where are your friends, huh? Tell us, please, loser."
Desmond was being beaten up by students from class 3-B outside Pronten Academy, just like he had been since the start of the year. Ever since his magical ring had been stolen by the leader of the bully trio, he'd lost any real chance of defending himself.
"What, you're staying quiet while getting beat up? Oh, right," one of the bullies laughed. "Your family's powerful ring is with me, isn't it?"
"How this bum let something like this happen?"
"Remember the day we took it? He started crying, saying it was some priceless family artifact."
"Hahaha, that day was hilarious. They were the good old days."
Just as Desmond was about to cry for being humiliated, he heard others his age approaching. It was his classmate—and Zurio.
"Desmond, I brought reinforcements!"
"Hey, isn't that the guy who beat Ray? What's he doing here?" one of the bullies asked.
"Stop hitting him, all three of you," Zurio Langley said calmly, then turned to Desmond, who was lying bruised on the ground. "Hey, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine, Zurio. Don't worry about it, just go back to your classroom and forget this happened."
"Stop with that nonsense, you're all bruised up," the classmate said, pointing to the purple marks on his body. "These guys from 3-B are nuts. Zurio, please do something, like you did to Ray."
"Hey, you guys," Langley stood up, visibly irritated. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Ooooh, scary," the trio's leader mocked. "You think we're scared of you just because you beat that idiot Ray? I could take him out with both hands tied behind my back."
"Then why didn't you?" one of his goons muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"What's your name?" Zurio asked, pointing at the group's leader.
"The name's Clay. Why? Gonna go cry to your best friend, the headmaster? I heard that you can't do anything without him."
"No, I just don't think it'd be very fun to crush you without knowing your name, you worm," Zurio said, taking a combat stance and turning to the others at his side. "You two, stay behind me."
"You're gonna try to beat us alone? Alright, hero."
"System, show me their status."
[Name: Bully 1
Level: 4
HP: 10
MP: 60
Attack: 11
Magic: 6
Vitality: 1
Agility: 1
Sense: 1]
[Name: Bully 2
Level: 3
HP: 110
MP: 10
Attack: 1
Magic: 1
Vitality: 11
Agility: 1
Sense: 1]
[Name: Clay
Level: 7
HP: 150
MP: 210
Attack: 17
Magic: 21
Vitality: 15
Agility: 1
Sense: 1]
"According to the System, everyone gets 5 attribute points when leveling up, but I'm the only one who can actually see their status and distribute the points however I want," Zurio muttered. "So how does he have that many attribute points?"
"Be careful, he's wearing Desmond's family ring."
"Ring?"
"Yeah, it's a valuable artifact known to hold massive amounts of concentrated magic."
"That explains the Magic number. Judging by their stats, if I get hit physically by Bully 1 or by any attack from Clay, I'll lose instantly. I have to beat them without getting close—but how?"
[Do you want to view your new skill?]
"My new skill? Oh, right! I ran out of the room and forgot about it. System, tell me, please."
[New Skill (LVL 1/10): Fire Blast. For a cost of 1 mana and 500,000 kerrys, a fireball is conjured. DMG: 100.]
"Perfect!"
"Hey, are you just gonna keep talking to yourself or are you gonna fight?" Clay shouted.
"Don't worry, this won't take long."
"You talk too much," said one of the lackeys as both charged toward Zurio.
"They both have only 1 agility, which means they're just as fast as me," Zurio began backing away. "I just need to fall back a little and…"
As Bully 1 was about to throw a strong punch, a fireball launched in his direction.
"Fire Blast!"
The bully's body was hurled across the street and he immediately passed out.
"What the hell is that?!" the second one yelled, distracted.
"Fire Blast!"
The second goon was thrown back as well but managed to remain conscious.
[Bully 1 defeated. You gained 6 experience points.]
[Current EXP: 6/9]
[Bully 2 is in critical condition. HP: 10/110]
[You cast Fire Blast twice and spent 1 million kerrys and 1 MP. You currently have 199 million kerrys and 8/10 MP.]
"What's going on?! How can you do this? You're just a merchant's kid!"
Clay panicked. "Is this some kind of buff? Is someone from 3-A secretly buffing you?!"
"Just shut up and come at me, Clay. You're next."
"Die, Zurio!" Clay raised the hand with the magic ring and began casting. "Magic Shield! Lightbolt!"
"He can cast long-range spells too?" A powerful lightning bolt shot toward Zurio. Before he could react, Desmond threw himself in front of him and was hit by the spell.
"Desmond! Damn it! Fire Blast!"
[Clay's Magic Shield absorbed the full damage from Fire Blast.]
[You cast Fire Blast and spent 500 million kerrys and 1 MP.]
"What?" Zurio stared at Clay, who grinned and readied another spell. "His shield must absorb a huge amount of magical damage."
He tried to calm down.
"If I don't do something, I'll lose. I can't let that happen, not today, when Headmaster Lympus finally praised me."
Zurio closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and focused.
"Damn it… we're all gonna lose to these guys..." Desmond's classmate said, holding Desmond's unconscious body.
"Your journey ends here, orphan," Clay raised the ring again. "Lightbo—"
Instinctively, Zurio dashed forward and gambled all in a desperate move, using his primary skill. "Zenite!"
Zurio's sword shattered Clay's shield into a thousand pieces and crushed him to the ground.
"Impossible…" Clay muttered before passing out.
[You defeated Clay. You gained 35 experience points.]
[You leveled up to Level 2.]
[You leveled up to Level 3.]
[You completed the Tutorial Quest. You gained 9 experience points.]
[You leveled up to Level 4.]
[You have 15 attribute points to distribute.]
[You spent 1 million kerrys using Zenite. You currently have 196.500.000 kerrys available.]