Chapter 4: Entrance Ceremony 2
[Memory Upload Sequence in progress]
That night, as I slept, the memories of this body had been merged with mine.
It was a weird feeling, having 18 years of memories suddenly crash into your mind.
This body had truly lived a shameful life.
Ares Von Castellan was a complete bastard when it comes to his personality.
Cruel, lustful and uncaring of others.
He was raised in a luxurious environment, surrounded by wealth and privilege, as was natural for the firstborn child of a duke.
As a child, he was kind, yet as he grew older, he neglected his education and training, despite his talent, in favor of hedonistic pursuits.
He, no, I, had abused my status to engage in debauchery, spending my teenage years going after women.
I had become known for my reckless disregard for rules and authority, being known as the Calamity of House Castellan, the one who would bring ruin to it.
I treated my younger brother with a cruel disregard, hating him for receiving our parents love, whilst I had come to be ignored.
Even with my talent and handsome appearance, those around me could only fear my reputation. I was known for being a monstrous individual, causing trouble wherever I went.
Throughout his life, I had even interacted with the main cast of the story, creating many enemies out of them.
The effect of [Terrible Reputation] was never so serious in game, the main cast did not like the player, but it was pretty easy to fix through giving them gifts they liked and picking certain dialogue choices.
But now, it's not a game, is it?
To cut it short, Ares Von Castellan is a bastard, through and through.
The last thing my father told me before coming to the academy resounded in my mind.
"This is your last chance. I know you have much to offer, yet I can no longer allow you to sully the name of Castellan. Go forth and bring us glory. If you are unable to do that much, never show your face around this duchy again. You will be disowned and your brother, Sorin, will become the new successor."
As he spoke, my father's sorrow was evident, yet his eyes revealed his steeled resolve. Love could only go so far in allowing him to ignore my actions. His threat was serious.
'This guy, no, me, why did I have to be such a bastard?' I lamented over my situation.
I would have to deal with all this bullshit, and all for 2 perk points? It seemed like the world was truly against me.
'Well, I was the one who chose it to be that way.'
Ding!
[Memory Upload Sequence has complete]
[The memories of Ares Von Castellan and ###### have combined into one]
[The soul of Ares Von Castellan has been obliterated]
[###### has successfully taken its place]
[Inherent Skill Learnt!
Perfect Memory]
Of course, before my transmigration into his body, Ares had existed as his own individual.
It's a shame his soul was obliterated, but frankly, his life was pathetic.
Despite our memories combining, Ares's ego had no effect on me, as his soul was destroyed, allowing me to retain my own personality.
I was able to remember my 2 lives with ease after acquiring my new skill.
Ding!
[System has been upgraded!]
[Quests have been unlocked!]
[System Ability : Analyze , has been unlocked!]
[System Shop has been unlocked!]
[Currency : Credits has been unlocked!]
[Note: Credits can be earnt through completing quests, romancing heroines, and causing mass confusion wherever possible. Credits can also be earnt through discovering secrets, and completing hidden quests!]
The series of panels appearing before me fully woke me up from my sleep.
I read them briefly, and pushed them all aside.
I briefly glanced at the shop, taking note of several items.
After realizing I was broke and couldn't afford anything, I exited.
Ding!
[Main Quest
Class Placement Test
You will be beginning the Class Placement ceremony, make sure to take a high place and join Class A!
Reward: Upon returning home, + Reputation with family, + Fame in the Academy, 50 Credits
Failure Penalty: Increased chance of disownment, Massively increased chance of death]
I looked at the screen without a change in expression.
From the beginning, I had intended to join Class A, if I didn't, I'd literally miss out on most of the main story.
But to enter class A, there were only 2 methods for me to choose from.
In the entrance ceremony, students would be tested to find out their overall stats, and be placed in a corresponding class, ranging from A to D. Naturally, I wouldn't be in, class A, let alone B. With my increased stats from the absorbed essence, I could possibly reach class C.
But I needed to reach class A, and the only way to do that was for me to challenge someone who had been placed in class A. If I was able to prove myself through a duel, I would automatically be placed in class A.
I got up and changed my clothes into the academy uniform.
My attendant, Evelyn, had prepared me breakfast.
'Right, I guess we should test that out.'
[Analyze!]
[Analysis of Evelyn Whitewood
Name: Evelyn Whitewood
Class : Support Mage
Overall Rating: B+
Stats:
Strength : B+
Vitality : B+
Agility : B-
Intelligence: B+
Wisdom: A-
Charisma : B+
Feelings towards you: Hate, Fear]
A/N, I changed the power system from numerical to alphabetical. It's a lot easier to manage. Sorry for the confusion, I've changed some details regarding it in previous chapters.
'Damn, she's a stronger than me?' I was shocked by the difference between us.
How badly had Ares neglected his training, as the descendant of an Archmage, he should be way stronger than this?!
Even if Evelyn was part of the main cast, the fact that she was stronger than me, the actual player, was absurd.
Basically, I was considered a failure due to my choice in perks... My past self had slacked off on training and acted as a fool.
'And her feelings towards me... Well, I guess it's to be expected'
I reviewed my memory of her, seeing that she had served my family as a maid for several years, with me being abusive towards her.
'She's one of the people I need on my side no matter what... I'll have to improve our relationship one way or another.' I hummed to myself.
But for now, I decided it would be best to just make small talk.
"Evelyn, are you prepared for the test?" I inquired.
She looked surprised that I had even spoken to her.
"Yes, my lord." She gave an underwhelming and curt response.
I could see clearly she held little interest in speaking to me. No, more like she didn't want to speak to me.
I finished eating in silence and I went to the courtyard in which the entrance ceremony was held. Evelyn followed me, making sure she wasn't too close to me.
I watched as the main cast was placed in class A.
"Evelyn Whitewood, overall rating B+, placed in class A!" announced Vice Principal Ataraxis, the one in charge of the tests.
"Her highness, Iris Valorian, overall rating A+, placed in class A!"
"Luna Nightshade, overall rating A-, placed in class A!"
"Alexis Don Quixote, overall rating B+, placed in class A!"
"Cassenia Haven, overall rating A+, placed in class A!"
I paused upon hearing her name. Cassenia was in fact the Saintess, with unmatched healing/buffing capabilities. One of the strongest characters in the game who was considered the archenemy of demonkind.
But for now, she was hiding her identity, at this point in time, the church of Solan had not yet announced the appearance of the Saintess.
Otherwise, the crowd would've had a huge reaction to fact that a Saintess, an existence which appears once every 300 years, would be attending the academy.
"Her highness, Aria le Fey, overall rating S, placed in class A!"
The crowed erupted in shock.
An overall rating of S was absurd at our age, hell, it was frankly insane.
Aria le Fey was the Princess of the Elves, and the strongest first year of the academy.
And also someone who was destined to be my enemy.
The trait that I possessed, [Enemy of Nature], was here to screw me over.
Elves are deeply intertwined with spirits and nature, and considering those 2 things hated me, so would the elves.
'She'll be the best target.'
I had decided that she would be the one I'd challenge to gain entry into class A. As the ceremony continued, I kept my eyes on her.
[Confuse!]
[Confuse!]
[Confuse!]
For several minutes straight, I used the confusion spell on her. Since we were not in combat, the debilitating effects of confusion had not effected her.
My spell was completely untraceable. During the entrance ceremony, students had to exert their full mana so that their abilities could be read, causing my small attack to go unnoticed.
Actually, it couldn't even be considered an attack.
At the moment, it literally did nothing except apply confusion stacks, and since the effects weren't activated, even Aria herself felt nothing.
Suddenly, I heard my own name called out.
I approached the orb at the podium of the courtyard. My appearance caused several murmurs of interest and suspicion.
After all, my reputation was terrible. Many eyes were on me, a good portion of those being ones containing hostility.
I looked at the one in charge of the ceremony, Vice Principal Ataraxis.
He gave his signature smile, and motioned me towards the orb which would determine my ranking.
I placed my hand on the orb, allowing my mana to be absorbed by it.
"Ares Von Castellan, overall rating C-, placed in class C!"
I didn't feel any sense of shock in the ranking, but my eye twitched after seeing the reaction of the crowd.
Upon the announcement of my rating and class, the crowd was silenced.
After all, the Von Castellan family was famous throughout the entire empire for creating generations of talented mages over the thousand years it had existed.
'It's not a nice feeling, being looked down upon' I left the podium without making any fuss.
I briefly noticed Iris, who was staring at me. She seemed satisfied by my lacking abilities.
Well, it makes sense why she'd hate me.
After reviewing my memories, I learnt that she was one of my childhood friends. Our relation fell apart after we grew older because of my own actions.
Iris was yet another character who was worth having as an ally.
She would go on to become an Archmage of Flare magic, capable of exterminating an entire legion of demons in a single wave of her hand.
The first phase of the ceremony finished up after a short while.
I continued applying confusion stacks on Aria. She remained none the wiser.
We were explained the fact that we could challenge higher class students to try and increase our ranks, and thus we were led to the dueling grounds of the academy.
"Right, so who'll be the first to challenge a higher class student, eh?" questioned the dueling professor with a fiery look in his eyes.
Naviron Ironheart, a retired paladin of the church. He was a kindhearted man, with a strong build and a noticeably bald head.
Without hesitation, I raised my hand.
"I, Ares von Castellan, am challenging Aria Le Fay!" I announced with determination.
The crowd entered a state of pindrop silence. Even Naviron seemed shocked by the development.
After a few seconds, the crowd began to murmur.
"Is that guy crazy? He was assigned to class C and is challenging the strongest of class A?"
"He clearly has a deathwish or something, what an idiot."
"I heard the elf princess is pretty cruel towards humans, she'll tear him apart!"
"Ah, hey, did he look in our direction, shit, be quiet! He's still the son of a duke!"
I heard the various NPCs of the academy speak in shock, one glance from me was enough to silence them.
"Errr, kid, I respect yer courage, but ain't this a bit too much for ya?" Naviron spoke with a tone of warning.
He was clearly trying to protect me, but it was unnecessary.
"Nah, I'd win."
The crowd erupted in laughter at my preposterous statement.
I felt the murderous gaze of Aria. Clearly she wasn't so happy about me challenging her and making such a statement.
"Welp, as they say, fortune favors bold! Good luck to ya kid, we got healin' mages on standby, so give it yer best shot!" chuckled Naviron.
We made our way to the arena, with many members of the crowd gathering to watch us.
Several other matches were happening simultaneously, but most people were interested in seeing me, the Calamity of Castellan, get crushed by the Elven Princess.
She had chosen to fight with a long and sleek rapier. I went barehanded.
The rules of the duel were quickly explained to us, and we were told to go to the opposite sides of the arena.
Before I went to my side, Aria spoke in a chilly tone.
"I don't know if you're insane or suicidal, but don't expect me to go easy on you, not after that idiotic statement from earlier. On top of that, the fact that you won't even use a weapon!? I'll put you into the mud, human."
Fear gripped my body from her words, I could feel killing intent radiate from her.
Of course, she couldn't actually kill me in the duel, but she could inflict serious injury on me considering there were healers to handle any injuries.
I looked at her in silence as she went to her side of the arena.
Once we were ready, the duel begun.
I looked at the confusion stacks I had been applying on her since her name was called in the first half of the entrance ceremony.
[26/42 Confusion Stacks]
"Perfect." I muttered under my breath.
At that moment, I recognized Aria as an enemy, causing all the effects of confusion to activate immediately.
[Jack, First Game has activated, strengthening you.]
[Jack, First Game, has maxed out, strengthening you immensely.]
[Jack, Second Game has activated, weakening the opponent.]
[Enemy has 26 stacks of confusion, 'Extreme Confusion' has activated.]
"Alright, let's beat this bitch!" I grinned in anticipation of my victory.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone