The sun's golden rays once again shone upon the lands beneath, heralding the beginning of a new day.
Back in his dormitory room, Hal yawned and stretched, habitually scratching his stomach before standing up to wash his face.
It was time to take on his first E-ranked mission.
But first, Hal would train his body.
He was now starting to feel uncomfortable without doing it at least once in two days.
Changing into his training clothes, Hal picked up his new, modern fitness bag and strode out of his room.
He arrived at the fitness center half an hour later.
With a smile, Hal greeted everyone he knew, then warmed up before diving into his workout, sweating buckets as he lifted weights suited to his current level.
He finished two hours later and returned to his dormitory to take a nice, long bath, change into his academy uniform, and prepare his sack bag for another journey.
'I need to purchase rations and drinking water from the canteen later…' he noted to himself.
Hal left again, this time heading to the Mission Hall, dumbfounded as it came into view a few dozen minutes later.
The establishment had always been lively.
However, it was somehow even more bustling today.
'The hell? Is there an event, or something…?' he wondered with furrowed brows. 'Well… none of my business, is it?'
He kept walking.
A few minutes later, Hal realized why there were so many people today.
The other freshmen had arrived to take on their first missions.
There were even a few two-star students among them, trying to find a group with pathetic, fawning looks on their faces.
Hal was quite famous among the freshmen.
So, when he entered, heads turned, and the entire first floor grew slightly quieter as students whispered among themselves, stealing glances at him.
Hal only snorted inwardly, still not used to being treated this way and unsure how to respond.
He simply stayed silent and made his way to the ascending stairs at the far end of the Mission Hall.
'Ahh… damn, I'd probably cause even more of a commotion if I was granted entry to the second floor, no?'
He grew slightly anxious.
However, on second thought…
'Hmph, isn't this what I wanted, anyway? Why shy away from all the attention?' Hal mused.
Unknown young men like him from the border villages needed as many eyes on them as possible and had to perform well under the pressure of those gazes to make it big.
'Besides… it'd be impossible to hide the fact that I'm now an E-ranked wizard if I'm always heading out on missions…'
There would always be random eyes in the Mission Hall.
How could he avoid them every time?
While he suspected that he might get the attention of envious and malicious people, he couldn't keep cowering away.
Hal knew he needed to face them head-on and make it through the ordeals.
But of course, he hoped he was simply overthinking things.
It didn't seem he was simply having an overactive imagination, though, as a group of people did not appreciate what they believed was Hal's undeserved bit of fame.
What's the big deal in defeating a mere three-star student?
Korren and the others from Poporo Village couldn't stand that Hal still somehow outshined them, despite his one-percent mana affinity.
Familiar faces soon blocked Hal's view, causing him to frown and his gaze to turn cold.
But he didn't speak to any of them and merely continued to stare icily.
Meanwhile, onlookers started to gather, somehow sensing trouble, even though no one spoke yet.
It remained that way for a few seconds until Korren broke the silence:
"Haha, Hal. I still can't believe I'm seeing your face in the academy. Wake up already, you're not making it big. Why don't you just stay in Poporo and help your mom plant sweet potatoes and tend the chickens? Maybe if I'm pleased with your performance, I'll hire you to look after my mom and toss you a few copper coins."
Hal merely sneered in response.
If he truly had no chance of making it big, Korren's words might have shaken him, but with his current potential and the Joker System…
He didn't see any need to reply.
So, after the sneer, he simply walked past them and continued toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
Korren's smile froze at the unexpected confidence, or arrogance, as he saw it.
But just as they were about to give chase and force Hal to face them by grabbing his shoulder, someone had already approached the one-star wastrel—a five-foot-four-inch young woman with white hair, slightly tan skin, sharp golden eyes, and a petite yet toned body.
Everyone's eyes widened.
They were all freshmen on the first floor.
One would have to be living under a rock and be a complete idiot not to recognize who the young lady was: Liora Whitemane, one of the four diamonds in the rough of this batch and a five-star student.
From one of the border villages south of the empire, her future was already looking bright with a seventy-three percent mana affinity.
However, her destiny changed completely when she drew her mana-bound artifact, the Seed of Luminosity, which granted her a one-hundred-percent boost in light magic.
She became a prime candidate for reviving the rare and elusive lineage of Light Magnas.
And now, that very same individual had taken the initiative to approach Hal Fennec, the mysterious wastrel who had somehow defeated a three-star student in a wizardry duel a few weeks back.
While most no longer dared to look down on Hal as they once had, they still judged his victory against an average student as insufficient to warrant the attention of such a rising star.
So…why?
Liora didn't keep them waiting long.
"Hal Fennec… correct?"
"Yes, I'm indeed Hal Fennec," Hal responded, fully aware of who he was dealing with and just as confused.
"Will you… please go out with me?"