The smell of dust and rotting plywood stung the nose. Arthur kicked the door of the old library open and pulled Lyra inside by force. He shut the door as fast as he could, leaning against it with heavy, ragged breaths. His St. Oakhaven boarding school uniform was drenched in sweat and the heavy rain from outside the building.Out in the hallway, the sound of Higgins's footsteps echoed. The discipline teacher was definitely carrying his signature thick wooden cane, searching for the two delinquent students who dared to set off fireworks in the teachers' lounge."You are out of your mind, Arthur," Lyra said, leaning against a bookshelf and trying to catch her breath. Her black hair was a messy, wet mop covering half her face. "If Higgins catches us tonight, we are dead meat. I am not scrubbing the dorm toilets for a month just because of your stupid idea."Arthur scoffed quietly, peeking through a crack in the wooden door. "Just chill for a second. Besides, the fireworks idea was to cov

Arthur slowly opened his eyes. The metallic stench of blood and the putrid smell of rotting flesh were completely gone now. An incredibly strong herbal scent instantly filled his lungs as he took a breath. He was lying on an iron bed with a fairly hard, thin mattress.Arthur reflexively felt his stomach. His school shirt, once soaked in blood, was gone. His clothes had been changed into a set of coarse, dull gray linen shirt and pants. The fatal tear from the shadow monster's claws had closed up tightly.The only thing left was a long pink scar that felt incredibly itchy and throbbed softly under his skin.That damn neon blue screen popped up again, floating right above his face.[HP Status 85 out of 100.][Low Tier Healing Magic Effect Received. Infection Cleared.] [Good Morning, Loser. You survived your first death.]Arthur rubbed his face roughly and swatted the empty air to dismiss the screen."You are finally awake." Lyra's voice came from the bed to his right.The girl was sitti

Two Orc Gladiators stepped out from the darkness of the tunnel. Their bodies were covered in thick green muscles that bulged disgustingly. Each of them carried a giant steel axe. Their heavy breaths puffed out like starving wild bulls.Arthur gripped his broken sword tightly. His hands were shaking violently. His torn arm muscles throbbed painfully. The blue screen in front of his eyes blinked bright red, counting down the rest of his life. Ten seconds until absolute death."Wait," a cold and sharp voice cut through the tension in the arena.Prince Kaelen jumped down from the upper railing of the stands and landed perfectly on the red sand. His silk robe rustled softly. Kaelen glared straight at Instructor Vane, who was standing up there with a face full of rage."What are you doing, Prince Kaelen," Vane snapped. The bald instructor's neck veins popped out. "Get out of the arena. This human must be executed for destroying academy property.""You are the one who should use your brain,

The sound of the war horn was still echoing, tearing through his eardrums. Arthur did not waste a single second thinking about Headmaster Alaric's threat. He turned around and ran as fast as he could down the main tower's spiral staircase. His bare feet pounded against the cold stone steps.Through the cracks of the tower windows, he could see the lower floor dorms where the human students lived were already burning fiercely. Flames roared, licking the wooden roofs. Thick black smoke billowed high, blocking out themoonlight.The blue system screen exploded in front of his eyes. Its color had returned to normal, but it was blinking with a bright red warning.[Emergency Warning. Iron Army Invasion Detected.][Survival Quest Updated.][Objective: Escape the dormitory area alive.][Reward: None. Death is the absolute penalty.]"Useless fucking screen," Arthur cursed, swatting the text away from his vision.He arrived at the main hallway on the ground floor of the human dorms. The air her

The ground of the academy's main courtyard shook violently. Hundreds of Iron Assassins charged forward all at once. The sound of their iron boots stomping sounded like an earthquake ready to swallow everything in its path. The coldnight air instantly felt like it was boiling from the steam of their breaths and the bloodlust of the mercenaries.Arthur gripped his short sword with both hands. His torn shoulder muscles screamed in pain, but the adrenaline killed the ache for the time being.But before a single enemy could reach their defense line, Bramble stepped forward. The giant weasel pulled a glass bottle from under his leather armor, chugged the rest of the liquor in one long gulp, and smashed the bottle onto theground until it shattered to pieces.Bramble let out a low growl. His growl did not sound like a normal animal. It echoed like an ancient monster that had just been woken from a long slumber. The muscles beneath his brown fur swelled wildly, tearing several parts of hisl