(Derick POV)
Derick was never really one to pay too much attention to details.
He was more likely to be found in a forest clearing, observing particularly interesting bugs.
He was the type to skip every side quest just to finish a game faster while still using the newbie weapons.
In short, Derick was an aloof idiot. But there was power to be found in foolishness, if done properly.
If not for his mutated spirit being discovered by a passing World Master, he would have stayed that aloof idiot his whole life.
He would have been just another nameless commoner in the great capital of Aserx.
Naturally, upon finding him, the teacher-turned-mentor helped Derick turn his liabilities into strengths.
He helped hone Derick's instincts, allowing him to take advantage of the otherwise useless trait of being hard to read.
As a mixed human with a faint dwarf bloodline, Derick could be considered the pinnacle of dullness.
Especially when he was forced to take part in events that did not interest him.
For the first half of his childhood, Derick did not even think about what his life would be like in the future.
So, of course, it came as a great shock to him when he found out his future had been decided.
His parents were assured that he would be doing this so-called kei cultivation.
He hadn't understood then.
Why would he want to get up before the sun when his life was already perfect?
Not to mention, the mentor had told him that his talent was only barely enough to join the geniuses.
Apparently, all the other kids had crazy talents and powers to keep them interested.
All he had was some stupid spirit that barely listened to him. Was it any wonder they were so dedicated?
Long before they ever joined the academy, most of these geniuses were making incredible strides.
And wasn't that a mystifying statement in itself?
As far as he knew, twelve years before, he would have been only five years old. He was almost certain that no kid could possibly wake up that early.
For the first time, he really wished he could go back in time to stop himself from being so lazy.
If only his younger self had seen kids his age with auras that powerful.
Some of them were even stronger than the soldiers in his home district.
Derick knew his personality. After training with his mentor since the age of eight, he was no longer the same idiot.
Derick had long ago figured out that even the most problematic person could become a threat if the proper discipline was instilled and the proper fighting style was found first.
A coward could turn into the most terrifying assassin; a narcissist could become the best public speaker.
All these and more had been drilled into him by his mentor.
It was only now, as Derick sat in the spacious auditorium after barely surviving the random pressure that had suddenly appeared and covered everyone, that he finally began to understand.
A collective clearing of voices sounded, interrupting the internal dialogue Derick was going through and causing him to look up by instinct.
It wasn't until he saw the four figures wearing teachers' robes that happened to match the colors of the four explosive pressures that Derick finally got a clue.
Times like these reminded Derick of his teacher's lectures.
One of the first and most important things Derick's mentor had taught him when he first became his pupil was how to use his strengths.
The mentor taught him how to use a couple quirks from his bloodline
Derick could, with training, learn to pick out the main details of any situation or environment.
Using that information to build a complete picture with varying accuracy.
That may not seem too useful. Yet Derick had seen the mentor play with rogues using it.
Hells, he'd even found a Kei Grotto using nothing more than an old image and some whispered rumors.
Of course, Derick was nowhere near that level of mastery over himself or his technique.
That was still above his pay grade.
What he could do was use context clues to an extreme level.
Sounds lame, and to be fair, the process behind it wasn't really mystical in any way.
It did let him realize that, for one, the pressure was a test.
And that test was far from over regardless of what the teachers may say.
He also noticed that in the class of approximately fifty people, there were still too many weaklings.
Before he could continue to decipher the situation he saw the woman wearing purple step forward.
Listening to her, his expression steadily became more serious.
By the time she had mentioned the "Hell Month," Derick was seriously wondering how many people would even make it through.
By his best estimates, it would already be the best-case scenario if half of the remaining students managed to get past this first month.
Derick was suddenly hit with an anxious feeling. It churned in his gut and caused his blood to start moving faster.
His instincts.
Derick had only felt such a feeling whenever he missed something crucial that could affect him immediately.
Before he could even begin to question what had happened, it was already over.
The Elven teacher in purple, who had introduced herself as Levina, had already waved her hand.
A small point of purple lightning condensed on her outstretched finger, quickly blossoming with a small flick from her hand that landed right above the floor.
Astonished, Derick could only watch as the light flared and faded.
It revealed a ten-foot-by-ten-foot platform that, according to Derick's previous conjectures, could only be for fights.
Motioning around the room, she addressed the class once again.
"Now that everyone is properly awake, we teachers have a few words for you all."
Levina gazed around the classroom with a gentle smile. Derick felt his instincts twitch for a moment watching that smile.
"Congratulations, everyone here has the bare minimum talent needed to excel.
We will be starting with the normal Hell Month introduction.
Before that we have a fun ice breaker for you all. It's time for our first Heavenly Ranking!
We think a good spar is the best way to get to know one another, and what better place to do it then right here!"
Teacher Levina spoke with a smile, but Derick could tell that things weren't as simple as they made it sound.
"Naturally, in order to ensure that all of the students give their best effort during the duration of the Hell Month, every week we will be eliminating the bottom five on the rankings from the Heaven Class."
When Teacher Levina spoke to this point, the entire classroom seemed to freeze.
Thankfully, all the students who had made it to this point were somewhat intelligent and knew not to speak rashly at that moment.
Levina smiled even brighter upon seeing that.
"Ah, it's wonderful to see we have so many calm heads on the first day.
Last year's students didn't have the same quality. I guess that explains why they all ended up failing out of the Heaven Class."
Again, Derick and nearly every other student in the auditorium had to hold back from jumping out of their seats.
Seeing the smile on her face, Derick shivered slightly.
He now could tell that Teacher Levina was the scariest of all the teachers present just based on the others' reactions to her smile.
Not giving anyone a chance, a small, tender hand, the smoothest and fairest Derick had ever seen in his life until that point, shot up from the middle aisle.
A pretty Elven girl with long silver and icy blue hair, with eyes just as cold, soon stood up after receiving permission from Teacher Levina.
"If it is okay with the teachers, I would like to start the battle," the girl spoke confidently.
Judging by her mannerisms and expression, she must be part of royalty somewhere.
Derick had to give her credit. It was a good plan to establish your own dominance first.
That way, if everything worked out well, then others would be subconsciously moved not to try and target her later.
It was too bad for her, though, that the teachers had likely seen similar things too many times to count.
They probably had a ready-made answer to disrupt her momentum, based on how they looked at each other with amusement.
To Derick's great surprise, they let her plan go, and Derick watched her turn and point at a student seemingly at random.
He could tell she had done it on purpose, though, which meant others could too.
Nevertheless, the calculating elf girl went up to the stage that continued to sparkle quietly and coldly looked at the boy she had called out to fight.
The boy was of a strange breed to Derick. He had caramel skin, silver spiked hair, and green eyes.
All in all, he looked to either be a bastard of a big royal family or from a smaller family that declined.
That was fairly normal, but what wasn't normal to Derick was that he couldn't read the boy.
He looked normal from all angles, if not a bit handsome, but that was it.
There was no one who didn't have any unique quirks, so the fact that this boy didn't portray any could only mean Derick wasn't strong enough to see them.
The boy, who had seemed surprised to be called on, turned his head at the exact moment when Derick tried to see past his feints and looked him dead in the eyes.
Derick, who prided himself on his eyes, could tell that he had just been seen through completely, and he jumped up from his seat in surprise.
He completely missed the boy's reaction as he was instantly embarrassed by his blunder.
He didn't dare to raise his head and risk drawing more attention so he sat back down.
By the time Derick dared to lift his head, the boy had already reached the platform and seemed to be talking to the teachers while ignoring the girl entirely.
"What a strange guy," Derick thought and watched as a consensus was reached and both students leaped away from each other.
When they reached either end of the platform, they began the fight.
On the boy's side, a single black chained door, awash with shadows and lightning, covered in patterns with a dragon's insignia, appeared.
Derick was stunned.
This level of talent was the best. In other words, the boy was a born Duke.
Feeling a little bad for the pretty elf girl, Derick turned his head and nearly had a heart attack.
The girl had two doors!
Two doors could only mean that she was a holder of twin innate spirits!
Something arguably more impressive and rarer than even being a born Duke.