Chapter 86: Chapter 86Over the past month, Aaron improved a lot. He was just level 21 when he arrived at the academy, and in just one month, his level jumped from 21 to 62, more than 40 levels.

    Even his attributes have reached a very high level. The physical attributes have already crossedthe 500 mark while the mental attributes are reaching the 1,000 mark, which should be possible in a few days.

    His attribute value has reached what someone in Rank-3 would have.

    This was not something anyone could achieve so easily. His talent gave him the chance to achieve this, but his hard work also helped him achieve so much.

    All of this happened because he saw how the weak get treated in this world. If not for the train incident, he may have progressed at a normal pace, but now he was afraid for his life and also for his parents.

    This is why he would check up on them every morning to make sure that nothing happened to them.

    This was not the life he wanted to live. To get out of this terror, there is only one way to do so, and that is to become stronger. That is what he has been trying to do from day one, but these wouldn’t be enough for his growth.

    He needed more. He needed resources that were not normally accessible.

    To achieve that, there is only one way, the competitions that were held by the academy. Every now and then, the academy would hold competitions between the students. This is a way of checking on them and seeing whether they making progress or not.

    The academies are investing a lot of resources in the students, and they want great things in return, but one should know, there are always some freeloaders who won’t do anything but enjoy the resources.

    To eliminate such people, the academy has a policy of not giving out everything for free. One has to earn in order to enjoy.

    Even then, there would be some lazy ones who would do the bare minimum to extend their lives in the academy. These competitions are a way for the academy to see who the hardest working students were and who weren’t. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Everyone thinks that talent and class rank are all that matter, but they weren’t. They just denote their potential for growth and nothing more.

    One has to put in the effort to reach the potential promised. Without hard work, no matter how much potential you have, it would be for nought.

    If the students were not working hard, then there was no need to invest much in them, and these competitions would show them who to concentrate on and who to ignore.

    ---

    Aaron woke up early in the morning and completed the morning rituals before making a huge portion of food.

    This was not just for his breakfast but for the days to come. During the competition time, he wouldn’t be able to return. So, he prepared a lot of food to carry with him and would eat whenever he felt hungry.

    From the information he got, the competition would be held for seven days in a secret realm or something like that.

    So, whatever one brings inside would be what they can enjoy inside.

    He can find some fresh food inside that realm, but that would be a waste of time. Also, there is a chance that whatever he could find might not be good for consumption.

    So, he decided to make his own food before he left for the academy grounds. It is the place that the academy told him and others who have registered for the competition to arrive.

    ---

    Academy Grounds...

    A lot of students can be seen gathered on the grounds. All of them are from the first year. It can be seen that everyone from the year is here. No one was absent from the competition.

    This is a competition, where the opponents are fellow first-years, and no one else. In everyone’s minds, there is a single thought. The chance of getting the rewards is very high, unlike when there would be a mix of candidates.

    Yeah, competitions are not always held year-wise wise but a mix of students most of the time. So, everyone here now has a higher chance at rewards than in such competitions where they have to face the senior year students, whose levels and experience would be higher than theirs.

    Everyone who arrived started to chat with their neighbours, with whom they are acquainted, except for Aaron. He didn’t attend any classes till now. So, he was not acquainted with anyone, except for that girl Erika, whom he met at the orientation, but she was nowhere near him.

    So, he kept to himself.

    At this moment, a young-looking woman appeared on the stage and started to address the crowd, "Hello, everyone, my name is Lyanna Silstar, vice headmistress of the academy. I would be the one overseeing this competition. So, everyone should remain assured that no one can cheat in this competition".

    "The competition is simple. You would enter the Undead Ruins, which is this year’s stage. It is a ruin filled with undead monsters. These undead monsters are tagged with tokens, which you have to collect by killing them".

    "There are three types of tokens, which can be easily distinguished by the colours. The colours are Blue, Red and Black, which in increasing order determine the number of points one would get, and also the difficulty of dealing with the monster".

    "The Blue tokens are attached to monsters under level 20, but give only a single point, while Red tokens are attached to monsters between level 20 and 50, which gives 10 points each. The most difficult one was the Black token, which was attached to monsters above level 50, and each token would give 100 points".

    "The ruins have three regions, Outer, Inner and Core regions. The Blue and Red token monsters are found in the Outer, while the Black monsters are found in the Inner region. The Core region, don’t you think of going there as the monsters there are very dangerous and death would be all but confirmed".

    "So, don’t go there. Also, in order to avoid any unforeseen incidents, every student would be given a bracelet, which, when broken, would transfer the wearer outside when they face danger. It also means they can’t participate anymore. Whatever they have gained till then would be counted for their points".

    "Oh, since you are entering Undead Ruins, most of what you find there would be tainted and can’t be consumed. So, before you enter, along with the bracelet, you would be provided with a spatial bag that contains food and water, which should be enough for more than ten days".

    "Upon return, these spatial bags, tokens and bracelets would be collected. Except for these, anything else that you find in the ruins would be yours. You can exchange them for Dusk credits if you have no use for them".

    "That’s it. Now you can enter one of the portals in an orderly fashion".

    Twenty portals appeared behind some desks that were already placed, where one can see someone sitting with spatial bags and bracelets, ready to hand them to the students before they enter the portal.