"Sir, my-"
"Get moving, ask questions there." The man pointed at a small area where a crowd was looming over, looking at something he couldn't quite see.
"But the screen-"
"Arcryl Sea!" He'd ignored him. Kael frowned and fisted his hands but nonetheless had to walk towards the end of the stadium. A man walked to him from the end, removing the hood of the cloak he had worn, and the first thing Kael noticed was the mask he wore — it was a crimson and black color, with flowing red outlines at the right end.
The cloak was also black and crimson with two chains falling at the left end, and the strange thing was, no matter how much Kael looked, he couldn't see anything behind the mask. Not the eyes, and although the man had removed the hood, the hair looked visually strange.
[analyzing.]
[system has found an illusion: does the user wish to remove it?]
[Yes/No]
His breath caught. The War System system had never asked anyone a question before. That wasn't how it worked. The system gave orders, assignments, and commands; nobody ever got a choice.
The words themselves were confusing — but Kael had caught on to what was going on. It was obvious that the person in front of him wore an illusion that masked his appearance; that's why he couldn't see the hair strands, or anything related to his face in general.
"My name is Hilstone Varrow, follow me."
Kael swallowed hard and obeyed, but his eyes kept flicking back to the glowing message.
[System has found an illusion: does the user wish to remove it?]
[Yes / No]
Every step he took, it followed.
Hilstone had walked directly to the place the selection man had pointed at — where the crowd was forming. They walked just a bit further away from the crowd, near a corner where Hilstone leaned to look over the selection. Most the students there had put a cloak over their dress, but the cloak had slits from the legs which Kael guessed was for mobility.
The symbol at the back represented the infamous Crimson Veil.
"Here." Hilstone reached out his hand, and a cloak appeared in it with a flash. "You're supposed to be wearing this in campus, or if you go out, at all times. You can wear anything you want beneath it."
"Exactly when are we going to the campus?" Kael took the cloak and swiftly moved his arm around the sleeves. The chains clicked and fell as they collided.
"Well," he pointed at the line of students left for the selection, and it had significantly fallen to just a handful. "Until we have all the recruited students from this area, we can't leave."
"Aren't you going to go and get the other recruits."
It was an honest question. He found it strange that someone from the Crimson Veil had personally escorted him and given him the uniform, but hadn't done the same for others. Ofcourse there were others from Crimson Veil what were helping the new recruits, but they didn't stick to only one student, something Hilstone was clearly doing as he hasn't moved to help anyone else.
"..." Hilstone stayed quiet for a second, tilting his head at him. "There are others to escort new recruits."
"So 'others' could've escorted me."
Hilstone couldn't help but let out a laugh. "You're right. I got a quest."
Kael blinked, than looked at the screen that displayed infront of him.
[Ashborn System]
[user — quest — shop — skills — inventory — evolution — faction]
[Would you like to see current quests?]
[Yes/No]
Kael clicked on the yes, and three new screen popped up.
[Daily Quest]
[1. Walk 5km throughout the day]
[Complete: 0.1km/5km]
[Reward: +0.5 stamina +0.5 speed +10XP]
[2. Lift a 5kg item overhead for 30 seconds]
[Complete: 0s/30s]
[Reward: +0.5 strength +0.5 charisma +10XP]
[3. Plank for 2 minutes without falling]
[Complete: 0m/2m]
[Reward: +0.5 strength +0.5 endurance +10XP]
[4. Organize room before lightouts]
[Complete: N/A]
[Reward: +0.5 charisma +10XP]
[quests]
[none]
[unique quests]
[none]
"Are you looking at your quests?" Hilstone laughed. "Don't worry kid, quests aren't that common, they hardly come but remember when they do, follow them."
"Really, they're not common?"
"No, they aren't." He looked at his own panel, something Kael obviously couldn't see.
Kael looked at the daily quests. He didn't know if they were counted in the "not common", but he could tell there was something insanely different about his system compared to the others.
He than looked at the top tabs. Except user, quest, and inventory, everything else was locked.
[Would you like to open user stats]
[Yes/No]
The way the system could directly hear his thoughts freaked Kael a bit, but obviously that was normal since the system was now bound to him by the selection crystal.
As he clicked yes, one long panel opened.
[User: Kael Ardyn]
[Age: 15]
[HP: 100/100]
[Level: 1]
[Exp 0/20]
[Strength: 10]
[Speed: 12]
[Defence: 10]
[Stamina: 12]
[Charisma: 12]
[Luck: 10]
[normal human stats: 2.5]
[user has gained the stats for Crimson Veil, rank 1: shadeborn]
All factions had their own hierarchy system. Crimson Veil's least strong rank was shadeborn; that was what all of them currently were, new recruits for Crimson Veil.
"You're quite interesting." Hilstone mused. "I have never seen a Shadeborn that interested in the system rather than it's skills. Tell me, after you touched that crystal, what did you feel?"
Kael turned to look at him.
He looked at his hands next.
"I don't know. I feel different for sure, but i can't place my hand on what it is." He had a different answer. He definitely felt stronger, more agile and his body felt way different than before, but Kael knew one thing — he had to hide everything about his system.
Ashborn System was unheard of. It could either be a good sign — or a bad one. The war system has been the reason for both peace, and war, so hearing that there was a new system would mean Kael would be used and targeted.
"Confused? That's okay, although I can let you know that the crystal changed you alot."
"Final candidate! Ace Veynar."
Kael's head immediately went towards the last person. His hair was black, and a portion of it was dark crimson, like fire, but his eyes were an ocean blue, stark contrast.
"A veynar.. at this selection house...?" Hilstone stared.
"Ace Veynar — Crimson Veil."
"Crimson Veil gather up!!!"
"Solaris Covenent!"
"Ebon Abyss right here!"
"Ironclaw!!"
Voices from 4 different positions immediately started to gather up.
"Let's go." Kael followed Hilstone as they approached a circle.
"This is called an Aethar Ring — it will teleport you directly in the campus ground, and from there you will be escorted to the opening hall." A man stood in the middle, with the same black cloak and mask, except his chain was craped around his arm.
He took something out of his pocket, and pressed it against the magic circle drawn on the ground.
[a crystal use has been detected]
[would you like to absorb it?]
[Yes/No]