Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World-Chapter 13: Sylvia’s Grand Entrance, The Arrogance of the Ashborn Family!
"Everyone, welcome back." Principal Harris swept his eyes over the students in the stadium who had finally quieted down.
"Some died early, and some came back triumphantly after reaching Level 2 today."
"For those who died, do not worry. There is always another chance. Next time, simply be more careful than you were today."
"And for those who reached Level 2 and awakened amazing talents, I congratulate you all."
"You will all become the beacons of mankind one day, the vanguard of the battlefield as we reclaim this world as our own from the dungeons and monster invasions."
"We have already identified those who received top-tier talents. When someone awakens a B-Rank talent or above, a golden light momentarily fluctuates at their physical location in the real world."
"Those who awakened top talents will be directly moved to the Special Class, and those who are already in the Special Class will receive improved benefits."
"I will now call the names."
"First, Lena from Class-3. Come forward."
Lena stood up from among the crowd with a smug look on her face. She had awakened a rare support class at the Upper B-Rank. It significantly boosted the combat strength of her party and also provided powerful healing abilities.
With this, she was sure to rise to the top.
"She actually managed to awaken a B-Rank or above talent." Albert looked at Lena with a stunned expression.
He glanced at Caelus, only to see him staring at Lena with a faint, unbothered smile.
He didn’t seem affected by it at all.
Where did his confidence come from?
Albert vividly remembered a few days ago when Caelus asked him about the events at school and vowed that he would wash away his humiliating past.
With him not unlocking any public talents and having an E-Rank affinity, his future was looking rather grim.
Yet he was still standing his ground.
Brother Caelus was strong indeed.
"Hm, my name probably won’t be called," Caelus mused to himself as the Principal began to call more names.
The reason was simple.
He, Caelus, had technically failed his awakening.
It was clear as day. The Endless Extraction talent came with terrifying effects that the Network couldn’t process, causing the system itself to show an error. It was clear that the talent bound itself to him after the system thought he had failed.
Meaning, the phenomenon of a golden light erupting from his place shouldn’t have happened.
His hypothesis was soon proved correct.
Albert was called up, followed by Ren, and then Lara.
"Special Class, Kevin. Come forward."
"Special Class, Sylvia. Come forward."
He kept on calling yet there was never a mention of him.
Soon, a girl with cascading white hair, a faint smile, and an extremely beautiful face walked onto the stage.
Instantly, the male students erupted.
"It is Miss Sylvia."
"It is no surprise she awakened a B-Rank or above talent. She has an A-Rank Mana Affinity. The Origin Network naturally wouldn’t leave such a talent hanging."
"I heard she rejected a confession from a senior yesterday without even looking up from her phone."
"Forget the senior. I would give up my entire inventory just to have the honor of carrying her luggage."
"She is on a completely different level. Beauty, talent, and background. God really plays favorites, doesn’t he?"
"If she looks at me, I think I might actually faint. Someone catch me."
"She is the future of humanity. We are just NPCs in her world."
Caelus knew who she was. She was treated as one of the most beautiful ladies of Fortis-01 High.
At the same time, hearing the chatter, Caelus’s lips twitched.
Wasn’t this a bit too much?
How could people glaze someone so hard?
The girl was naturally charming and many would queue up to date her, but this was still a bit too exaggerated.
He wanted to find their messenger IDs and make fun of them in the DMs, but he held that urge in.
Soon, the Principal finished calling all the names for the high-tier talents.
Caelus was not on the list.
He crossed his arms with a faint smile on his face.
"This is perfect. Now, I won’t have to explain too much about it."
"Alright, I will now call the people who awakened talents below B-Rank," Harris announced. "All of them will have their benefits received from the school improved."
One by one, the majority of the students had their names called.
Well, everyone except for Caelus.
"That is all. Those who didn’t awaken any talents, work hard. The Domain is filled with endless possibilities. I am sure you all will make it."
With that, everyone was dismissed.
Coming back from the Domain, most students felt heavy after the bloodbath of eliminating monsters inside the virtual world.
Caelus was rather tired too. He just wanted to get a bit more sleep.
Hence, he and Albert decided to head back to the dormitory.
But on the way, girls flocked around Albert. Seeing this, Caelus slipped past the crowd and continued walking alone.
However, just as he crossed a bit more distance, a girl passed by him.
He recognized her clearly. It was Lena. But he didn’t pay attention to her and continued walking forward.
Seeing this, however, Lena frowned.
"Hey, Caelus. Wait." Lena approached him and spoke, her voice laced with a hint of command.
"What?" Caelus’s lips twitched in annoyance.
Damn, didn’t this woman say that she didn’t want to have anything to do with him?
Why was she calling out to him on her own accord now?
"I just wanted to say that you and I belong in different wo..." Lena immediately began, lifting her chin slightly.
However, the instant she began speaking, a bored look appeared on Caelus’s face.
Without hesitation, Caelus kept walking.
He didn’t even slow down. He just continued his path toward the exit as if she were nothing more than background noise.
"You!" Lena stood frozen for a second, her eyes widening in disbelief.
She was used to Caelus chasing after her, listening to her every word like a loyal puppy. To be dismissed so blatantly, she could not tolerate it.
Her face flushed red with humiliation and rage.
"Caelus! Stop right there!" Lena shouted, her voice shrill enough to cut through the chatter of the exiting students.
"Do not walk away when I am talking to you!"
Caelus didn’t stop. He didn’t even flinch.
Seeing his retreating back, Lena completely lost her composure.
"You are just an E-Rank trash with no talent! Do not think that playing hard to get will work on me anymore!" she screamed, pointing a trembling finger at him. "I have awakened a B-Rank talent! I am destined for the top universities and the great guilds! You and I belong in completely different worlds now!"
Her shout echoed across the corridor.
Instantly, the surrounding students stopped moving. Hundreds of pairs of eyes shifted toward the source of the commotion.
They looked at Lena, who was fuming with righteous indignation, and then at Caelus, who was walking away.
Whispers erupted like wildfire.
"Is that Caelus?"
"Ugh, is he still bothering Lena?"
"The guy has no shame. Everyone knows she awakened a B-Rank talent and reached Level 2 already. He is still stuck at the bottom with his E-Rank affinity."
"He probably tried to confess to her again to cling to her thigh, and she rejected him."
Caelus naturally heard the commotion, but he didn’t say anything.
He chuckled silently.
The morons opening their mouths had a lower power level than him, and they didn’t even know it.
Then Caelus coughed just as quickly. Why was he talking like someone doing an ad for a mobile game where the power scaling number goes up every few seconds?
But aside from that strange thought, it wasn’t that Caelus didn’t want to slap Lena to death right there and then.
He just couldn’t do it right now, or it would ruin his plan.
The Ashborn family was very high-end in Fortis City. As he was right now, making a move would be troublesome.
But he had already formulated a plan to deal with it. No, he planned to exterminate the entire family off the Azure Origin Planet.
And for that, patience was key.
This little bicker? Caelus didn’t mind it at all. A man with a true purpose doesn’t care about the small details or stress over the barking of dogs.
With that, he went back to his dormitory.
