Night at Starfall Academy was never truly dark.
Sunny sat on the edge of his bed, shirtless. He flexed his hand.
The tendons in his arm snapped tight like steel cables. His skin, now infused with the essence of the Giant Acid Ant, had a faint, glossy sheen to it.
"Tier 0 Chimera Body," Sunny whispered, running a hand over his abs. They felt like a washboard made of granite. "I can finally take a hit without dying."
"System, Status."
[Ding!]
[Status Window]
Name: Sunny
Class: Chimera Lord (Tier 0)
Level: 6
Strength: 12 (S-Rank Potential)
Agility: 9
Endurance: 10
Mana: 15/15
Active Pets:
Obsidian Spike-Stag (Rare) - Level 4
Nova (Molten Sprite) (Rare) - Level 4
He looked at his two monsters.
The Obsidian Spike-Stag was clinging to the ceiling, sleeping upside down like a bat. Its horn looked sharper than ever, dripping with a tiny amount of venom.
Nova, the Molten Sprite, was curled up in a metal bucket Sunny had stolen, glowing softly like a dying ember.
"You two are strong," Sunny muttered, analyzing them. "But you're unrefined. Nova, you have zero range control. You just vomit lava. And you," he pointed at the beetle on the ceiling, "you're fast, but if you get hit once by a heavy attack, you crack."
"The Academy shop is a rip-off," Sunny stood up, grabbing his black cloak. "And the dungeon drops are RNG garbage. I need to go to the source."
He pulled up the World Map he had downloaded.
[Location: Blackwood Village]
[Distance: 10km East.]
[Danger Level: Moderate.]
[Notes: Frequent reports of mutated wildlife attacking livestock. Possible Rare Monster spawn.]
"Mutated wildlife," Sunny grinned, strapping the Balanced Iron Shiv to his waist. "Sounds like an all-you-can-eat buffet."
Sunny opened the window and slipped out into the cool night air.
The campus was huge. Moving through it at night required stealth, especially since B-Class students had a curfew. But with 9 Agility and the Shadow-Step Vest, Sunny moved like a ghost.
He sprinted across the rooftops of the magic labs, leaping five meters at a time. The wind rushed past his ears.
The physical power he had gained from the ants made every movement effortless.
As he neared the Eastern Gate, he heard a sound.
"At 2 AM?" Sunny frowned, skidding to a halt on a tiled roof. "Who the fuck is making that much noise?"
He looked down toward the Central Training Grounds.
Usually, the grounds were empty at night. But tonight, the massive magical floodlights were on, bathing the central arena in blinding white light.
Hundreds of students were gathered in the stands. Not just D-Class fodder, but A-Class elites, and even some instructors.
They were chanting one name.
"KAEL! KAEL! KAEL!"
Sunny narrowed his eyes. "Kael?"
He crept closer, hiding in the branches of a tree overlooking the arena.
In the center of the training field, a single figure stood.
He was tall, with messy white hair and a long, black trench coat that fluttered in the mana wind. He held a spear a spear that crackled with purple lightning.
Surrounding him were twenty glowing magical constructs. Training Golems (Tier 2).
These golems were made of enchanted steel. One of them would give Gorn a hard time. Twenty of them? That was a death sentence for a B-Class student.
"Begin!" an automated voice announced.
The twenty golems charged at once, their heavy metal feet shaking the ground.
The white-haired boy, Kael, didn't move. He just yawned.
"Boring."
A spark of purple electricity jumped from his shoulder.
Then, a shadow loomed over him.
Above Kael, a rift tore open. A beast descended.
A Thunder-Clad Wyvern.
It had scales like obsidian and wings made of pure lightning bolts. It screeched, the sound tearing through the air like a fighter jet.
"Clear the trash," Kael ordered lazily.
The Wyvern flapped its wings once.
A shockwave of purple lightning exploded outward in a perfect circle. It hit the twenty steel golems.
The golems simply disintegrated. The steel melted instantly, turning into pools of glowing slag. The shockwave continued, hitting the magical barrier around the arena.
The barrier shattered like glass. The crowd in the front row screamed, shielding their eyes from the blinding light.
When the light faded, the arena was empty. Just scorch marks and melted metal.
Kael stood in the middle, untouched. His Wyvern landed on his shoulder, shrinking down to the size of a hawk.
The crowd went absolutely feral.
"THE THUNDER KING!"
"HE'S A MONSTER!"
Sunny watched from the tree, his heart hammering against his reinforced ribs.
He gripped the bark so hard his fingers dug into the wood.
"System... Scan."
[Ding!]
[Scan Result]
Name: Kael
Rank: 1 (Student Rankings)
Class: S-Class (Thunder Lord)
Beast: Storm-Winged Wyvern (Platinum - High)
Stats: ??? (Target level too high).
"Rank 1," Sunny whispered.
Prince Valerian was strong with his whale, but he relied on his family's money and raw power. This guy, Kael... he looked like a warrior. He looked like he enjoyed the violence.
A student in the stands screamed out, "Kael! Do you think you can beat the Sword Saint from the West Academy?"
Kael looked up at the crowd. His eyes were purple, glowing with residual mana.
"The Sword Saint?" Kael laughed. It was a dry, arrogant sound. "Ants. They are all ants. I don't look down at the ground when I walk."
He turned and walked away, his coat billowing. "I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me up for trash mobs again."
"Ants," Sunny repeated. "He called them ants."
Sunny had just fused with ants. He was the Chimera Lord of bugs and dirt. To Kael, Sunny was less than nothing.
A fire ignited in Sunny's chest.
"That Wyvern," Sunny licked his lips. "Imagine the fusion potential."
If he could get a piece of that Wyvern... a scale, a drop of blood... he could add Lightning to his Chimera arsenal.
"Someday," Sunny swore quietly. "Someday I'm going to knock that look off your face, Sparky."
He checked the time. 3:00 AM.
He had wasted enough time gaping at the elites. Watching them wouldn't make him stronger. Killing would.
Sunny dropped from the tree, landing silently in the grass outside the training grounds. He turned his back on the lights and the cheering crowd.
"Enjoy the fame," Sunny muttered, pulling his hood up. "I'll take the grind."
He sprinted toward the forest line, heading East.
One Hour Later - Outskirts of Blackwood Village.
Blackwood Village was a small settlement of farmers and lumberjacks who supplied the Academy with food and wood.
Sunny stood on a hill overlooking the village. Smoke was rising from several cottages. He could hear screams carried on the wind.
"Help! Someone!"
"The monsters! They're in the walls!"
Sunny crouched low.
"System, scan the area."
[Ding!]
[Type: Beast Swarm.]
[Species: Needle-Rat (Mutated).]
[Count: 50+]
"Needle-Rats?" Sunny recalled the database. "Fifty of them? That's a plague."
He saw a group of villagers cornered near the village well. They were holding pitchforks, shaking in terror. Surrounding them was a sea of red eyes. The rats were the size of dogs, with sharp, bone-like quills protruding from their backs.
One rat lunged, its quills bristling.
"Please! No!" a woman screamed, shielding her child.
"Time to farm," Sunny grinned.
He raised his hand.
"Nova. I choose you."
The Molten Sprite appeared, the grass instantly catching fire under his feet.
"See those rats?" Sunny pointed. "They are made of flammable fur. Go make me proud."
Nova's eyes lit up. "Gah!"
"Spike-Stag," Sunny summoned the beetle. "Protect the lava boy. Don't let anything touch him."
The beetle hovered over Nova like a drone.
"Go."
Nova raised his hands. A ball of fire formed, swirling with magma.
Down in the village, a rat leaped at the woman.
A fireball came out of the darkness of the forest. It hit the rat mid-air.
The rat exploded into a shower of burning fur and meat.
The villagers froze. The rats froze. They all looked toward the hill.
Standing there, silhouetted by the moon, was a figure in a black cloak. Next to him stood a small demon made of fire and a giant black beetle.
"Hey, ugly!" Sunny shouted, his voice cutting through the panic. "You're in my XP zone!"
The swarm turned. Fifty pairs of red eyes locked onto him.
"Come and get it!"
The rats shrieked and charged up the hill. A wave of teeth and spikes.
Sunny cracked his neck. His metallic skin gleamed.
"System," Sunny whispered, pulling out his Shiv. "Activate [Target Lock]."