The Will of Asteria

The Will of Asteria.

By the time I finally collapsed onto my bed to pass the time, a thick darkness had already settled outside the window. At this ungodly hour, you would expect not a single soul—or rather, not a single beast-kin bastard—to be roaming the academy grounds, yet the outdoors remained as boisterous as ever. Then again, with a massive entertainment district like Estel Live nestled inside, and the campus itself packed with amenities on par with a mid-sized city, it was no surprise the place was a city that never slept.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Ignoring the temptations of the nightlife, I silently dedicated myself to training. The defining trait of the Knight class, which the forum users mocked to no end, was that it was a garbage class where raising even a single stat point was an uphill battle without bone-carving discipline. That was precisely why I was relentlessly swinging my sword in the middle of my cramped dormitory room.

"Phew..."

A horizontal slash. Then a vertical strike.

Flowing as naturally as water, I transitioned into the Consecutive Thrusts that had carved through the death lines on the first floor of the tower. Five thousand repetitions for each form. A grueling total of fifteen thousand sword strikes. Though the movements were already engraved into the very marrow of my bones, I actively fought off complacency, sharply focusing my mind on the contraction and relaxation of every single muscle fiber.

Swoosh! Whoosh!

The heavy sound of tearing air echoed rhythmically through the room. Thick beads of sweat dripped from my chin, leaving dark stains on the floor beneath my feet.

How much time had passed? Just as the burning sensation in my lungs reached its absolute limit, I finally completed my target count.

"...Phew."

I panted heavily, a smirk tugging at the corner of my lips.

"And that's training done."

Since my daily routine was wrapped up, I decided to check the forum before washing up. In this madhouse of a world, there was an endless amount of information I needed to uncover, making it absolutely essential to squeeze every drop of knowledge out of the veterans.

Brushing back my sweat-soaked bangs, I lightly flicked my fingers in the air. With a familiar snapping sound, a translucent blue holographic window filled my vision. The moment I logged in, a dizzying array of real-time best posts plastered the main page of the forum.

Even though it was nearly dawn, the forum users were hammering away at their keyboards as if they had forgotten how to sleep. I casually ignored the useless posts and tapped the 'New Post' button.

The moment I registered the post, notifications began to go off like crazy before I could even hit refresh.

As expected, the only responses were ridicule and deep suspicion. But I calmly tapped away on the holographic keyboard.

The moment I posted that short reply, the raging comment section froze for a split second before exploding as if doused in gasoline.

So they didn't believe me. While bragging about this in reality would be a suicidal move, there was absolutely no reason to play modest in this forum where complete anonymity was guaranteed.

I opened my inventory, took a screenshot of the golden skillbook sitting proudly inside, and uploaded it.

A bizarre silence lasted for about three seconds after the post went up. Then, their attitudes did a complete 180.

Indeed, everyone is equal in the face of undeniable physical evidence. I leisurely enjoyed their near-hysterical worship as I typed again.

At my follow-up question, the comment section—which had just been in shock—froze once more before exploding with rapid refreshes.

An Apostle...?

I only had a shallow grasp of the lore from playing the game occasionally, but I knew they were transcendental raid monsters that were practically impossible to defeat. Weren't they calamity-class entities that had existed since ancient times...?

Unprecedented. Not a single player among these salty veterans had ever received an Apostle's blessing. I had no idea why a transcendent being like the 'Apostle of Flame' had bestowed her blessing upon me, but the lack of information simply meant I had to face it head-on and uncover the true nature of this 'will' myself.

I cut through their mounting hysteria and got straight to the point.

"The Magic Counseling Room and the Shop tab..."

Come to think of it, I hadn't had a proper meal since falling into this demon world. I had received a bare minimum of emergency rations to survive when I first arrived, but even those were already running dry. I had been worried about having to go to sleep on an empty stomach tonight, so this was perfect timing.

Following their rough but practical advice, I tapped the small, blinking [Shop] icon in the corner of my vision.

With a cheerful *ding*, I saw the default 10 PT that had been credited to my account. Soon, a list of real-world items cascaded down the holographic window.

A bottle of water was 0.1 PT. A low-grade bandage set was 0.5 PT. And the 'meat bread' the forum users had recommended was 1 PT.

"...This system is surprisingly generous."

For a penniless freshman like me, it was a life-saving rain in the middle of a drought. If I activated that mysterious skill at the Magic Counseling Room tomorrow and stockpiled some food with my remaining points, my preparations for climbing to the second floor would be complete.

"I've got all the info I need. Time to actually get some sleep."

I smiled with satisfaction and dismissed the holographic window into the air. After washing off my sticky, sweat-drenched body, I collapsed onto the bed of my temporary dormitory, which reeked of mold. My muscles, overworked to their absolute limits, screamed in protest, but a strange smile lingered on my lips as I thought about tomorrow.

This godforsaken tower. I might actually have some fun climbing it.