Alright, it's time to flesh out the secret identity.
Lucas sat on his bed and opened his notebook, beginning to sketch out plans for his villain persona.
He would need a name, a distinctive appearance, and most importantly, a believable motivation that wouldn't trace back to his real goals if he didn't want to be caught.
The Shadow Fox, he wrote, then crossed it out. Too generic.
Nightbane. Also terrible.
The Phantom. Better, but still uninspired..
Fiend. Too pretentious.
He began to think. What is a name that would be cool as hell but at the same time seems effortless and not too try hard?
One thing immediately came to his mind.
"Shadow," He said.
It was cool, sleek and lazy. Just like he wanted.
He could see why a certain hedgehog and a certain guy who jumped in front of a truck would choose this name as well. It was just effortlessy cool.
For his motivation, he would be a vigilante seeking to expose corruption among the nobility.
This would give him some wiggle room and allow him to gather intelligence and maybe even a chance to "redeem" himself if necessary.
He just needed to create a identity behind the mask so if in the case that Shadow was figured out it wouldn't be traced back to him.
This was quite easy as the amount of children who grew up in slums all around the country was countless. If he just painted himself as one of them, no one would ever figure out who he was.
Am I a psycho for enjoying this? Lucas thought. Nah, I'm sure the slum kids won't mind me stealing their identities, they've probably got better things to worry about.
Lucas spent another hour refining his plans and working out the details of his first few potential operations.
Lucas ended up falling asleep over the paper he was using to plan.
----
The next morning arrived with the ringing of the academy's wake-up bell.
Lucas groaned and rolled over. His body was pained up because of the previous night's wall-climbing and his very awkward sleeping position.
His arms ached, and there was a persistent soreness in his shoulders that reminded him just how pathetic his predecessors physique was.
Still, he had work to do.
Lucas carefully retrieved one of the Rainberries from his desk drawer and examined it in the morning light.
The fruit was about the size of a grape, with deep purple skin and a spiral pattern.
According to his game knowledge, Rainberries were most effective when consumed within minutes of sunrise on an empty stomach.
He bit into the fruit and his face twisted up because of the incredibly bitter taste. It was like chewing on concentrated medicine mixed with tree bark.
The flesh was tough and fibrous, requiring significant effort to swallow. Almost immediately, he felt a warm sensation spreading through his chest and limbs.
[System Notice: Physical enhancement detected. Minor increase to base constitution.]
The system notification appeared in his vision, confirming that his plan was working.
At this rate, he would need several weeks of consistent consumption to build up the necessary physical foundation, but it was progress.
After eating the rest of the Rainberry, Lucas quickly dressed in his academy uniform and made his way to the dining hall for breakfast.
The large stone chamber was already bustling with all kinds of students when he arrived.
Long wooden tables filled the space, with benches on either side where students sat according to their social groups and class rankings.
Lucas spotted Lydia sitting alone at a table near one of the tall windows, a stack of books beside her plate as she ate while reading.
Marie was nowhere to be seen. She was probably at the nobles' table with the other high-ranking students.
He approached her carefully because he didn't want to startle her.
"Mind if I join you?" He asked with a smile.
Lydia looked up from her book with an expression on her face that made it seem as if she'd forgotten that other people existed.
"Oh, Lucas. Yes, of course." She gestured to the empty space across from her. "I was just looking at some additional material for our next session."
Lucas sat down and began eating his breakfast. It was a simple meal of bread, cheese, and some kind of porridge.
The food didn't taste very good but it filled his stomach, and he found himself very, very hungry after the previous night's activities.
"I wanted to thank you again for yesterday," he said, "I learned more in those two hours than I have in weeks of regular classes."
"You're welcome," Lydia replied.
Her eyes kept looking back to her book, and Lucas noticed she was holding it at an angle that prevented him from seeing the cover clearly.
Perfect. This was exactly the opportunity he'd been hoping for.
"What are you reading?" he asked innocently. "It must be really entertaining if it has your attention completely hooked."
Lydia's cheeks immediately flushed pink. "It's just...It's just... academic material. It's nothing interesting."
"Really? I don't believe that, you're quite hooked, so it must be a good book. Maybe I could borrow it sometime if it's educational. Right?" Lucas leaned forward slightly, trying to get a better view of the book.
"No!" Lydia said quickly and held the book to her chest. "I mean, it's not... it wouldn't be helpful for your studies. It's very advanced material. You wouldn't understand it at your level."
Lucas could see the edge of ornate gold lettering on the book's spine. It was exactly what he had expected.
It was obviously "The Handsome Duke Ravishes the Maiden", the same romance novel the librarian had been reading yesterday. This was almost too easy.
"Advanced material about what subject?" he asked. "History? Magical theory?"
Lydia's face was now bright red. She opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again, clearly struggling to come up with a lie that made sense.
Finally, she slammed the book shut and shoved it into her bag.
"It's nothing important," she said. "We should probably head to class soon."
"Of course," Lucas agreed but he was secretly smiling inside.
[System Notice: Quest progress detected. Quest completion: 15%]
Only fifteen percent? Lucas frowned internally.
Apparently, he would need to do more than just catch her reading romance novels
But this was a good start, and he still had over twenty hours remaining to embarrass her even more.
In fact, it wouldn't even take that long as he had a nice surprise waiting for her.
He had been a bit reluctant to use it but it was life or death now so he had no more hesitation on his part.