Volume 2 Episode 43 (Volume 2 Epilogue)

"Knock knock knock."  

As dawn broke early in the morning, a loud knocking came from the door, waking Lin up. He had been thinking of getting a bit more sleep now that the tournament was over, but he was interrupted.

"Master Lin, the tournament has ended, but you still haven't attended your classes yet. I know you don't wish to attend them a lot, but surely you could make do for some, right?"

The deep voice of Charles rang from behind the door, his voice filled with worry.

Lin had forgotten about the classes. He didn't attend that many as he already had a perfect memory which meant he could learn almost anything in record time, but he did need attendance to attend the year end exams to move on to the next class.

He wondered if he should just drop out of the academy, seeing as he didn't need to attend it anymore and could easily make do without it. But he then chose not to, as the school life might be exactly what he needed to get his mind off the more serious matters.

'I still have time. I shouldn't forget that.'

He told himself. He had to learn to let loose, and it turned out to be surprisingly hard for him to move out from his current lifestyle, but he was trying his best.

After getting ready quickly, Lin got out of his room and started walking to the car, with Charles following close behind, who opened up the door for him to get in.

The car reached the school, and Lin got out, only to be stared at by the other students, particularly the first years. They were looking at him like he was some sort of extraterrestrial being.

Lin raised his eyebrows wondering what was going on.

'It must be because of my win in the finals.'

Lin had come to the conclusion that the stares he received were most probably because of him being the winner of the Evantel Tournament.

He moved his gaze towards a few of those who were staring, startling them. He smiled for a second and walked without minding the gazes.

The classes were held as usual, except some of the students in his class were turning their heads back to look at Lin every now and then. It was expected, as he was only a first year and yet he had beaten the third years to nab the title of winner. It wasn't an easy thing to achieve.

As evening came, all the students were suddenly called into the auditorium by the teachers for a brief meeting by the principal, leading to a few sighing deeply, most probably for having expected to leave early.

The students moved in an orderly manner, and in a few minutes, almost all of them had arrived at the auditorium.

Most of them were whispering to each other and talking about unrelated topics, but suddenly everyone felt a tremendous pressure close by, which made all of them shut their mouths almost immediately.

Even Lin who had now achieved the title of the most powerful first year had trouble resisting the pressure of such a powerful existence. He looked forward and saw an old man with long, white hair and beard that almost touched the ground, walking towards the podium slowly and immediately recognised who it was.

Akira Moriyama. The Principal of the prestigious Drakon Academy. Only he had the power to exert such tremendous pressure upon them. 

All the students stopped what they were doing and looked at him when he stepped up to speak. There was absolute silence. Mr. Moriyama looked at the students standing in front of him for a while, causing the people who were the targets of his intense stare to sweat nervously. He then moved his mouth close to the microphone to speak.

"Greetings my dear students. It is with utmost joy that I stand in front of you, to view the future warriors and mages of our Drakon Academy.  Whether it's a hundred years ago or the present day, our students have always been achieving the impossible, always outshining others in whatever they are doing. It is with hope that I look at each and every one of you. Hoping that you'll go even beyond what your predecessors achieved in their lifetime.

I am a teacher today, but I was a student of this academy long before any of you were born. I was born an orphan, and as such this place is the only thing I have to call home. And you who occupy this institution, are my family. So I hope, from one family member to another, that you'll make me proud."

Students cheered at the Principal's words, with some even yelling that they'll make him proud. It seems that they wanted to impress him, which was understandable as he was the one of the strongest people alive in the whole world.

Akira Moriyama is a well known warrior, who had spent his years working for the guild as well as the military before coming back to the school to take up the reigns.

He was truly an embodiment of the word 'Living Legend'.

Mr. Moriyama raised one for his hands indicating everyone to calm down, and the whole place went silent once again.

"Now the main reason we had to conduct this meeting is that we received an invitation from the Korean Government. The government has granted the staff and the students from the Drakon Academy permission to enter the ruins of the newly discovered tombs of the malkian tribes as a part of their excavation team. 

So if you wish to join the excavation group, please be sure to inform your class teacher about it. Oh, and only five students from each class can enter the team, so the head teacher will be the one to choose if there are too many volunteers. The project has a duration of five months, and the participants of the project will go along with the crew to different parts of the ruins, as it is said that they are scattered all across the peninsula. That is all."

The students waited for the principal to leave the room, and as soon as he did, they yelled, excited at the proposition of a five month project that could get them out of the school. They would still have to study, but they were happy at the chance of sightseeing. To the students, it was basically a five month long school trip.

'They sure are excited about the project.'

Lin stared at the enthusiastic students who were excited about the trip, even though they'd have less chances of getting into the team.

'Well, not like I care about the trip. I'd rather sit in my room and figure out how to level up faster.'

Lin thought about going on the trip, but opted out of the idea, as he had bigger things to do, and a fun little trip for five whole months would definitely put a stop to that.

Or at least that's what Lin wanted to do, until his information hint started going haywire at the idea of the ruins, startling him.

'Is it telling me to go to the excavation project? Is it really that important? Or is there something hidden there that might be useful?'

Lin was extremely curious as to why the information hint was just straight out pointing him to join the trip. It had never done that before, and it definitely seemed weird that it was doing it right now.

'Is there something there that might be vital in my mission moving forward?'

He thought to himself. He had been assigned by The Man Upstairs to destroy this world in less than a thousand years, and he had thought that it meant he would have longer time to complete his mission. However the newest notification from the information hint was contradicting his hypothesis.

Lin quickly got home and called Eric who answered almost instantly, making him wonder if he was just staring at his phone the whole time.

"Mr. Lin, it sure is a pleasure to receive your call. May I ask why you might be calling me today?"

Eric, who was cheerful as usual, asked Lin the reason for his call.

"I need to know if you can handle everything for five months without me. Can you handle that?"

"Of course I can, I was doing it before you took over you know? But what's this five months deal? Are you going away someplace else?"

Eric, although surprised at the question, answered that he could indeed handle the business side of things. Lin explained that he had to join the excavation team from his school to go on a five month trip, and Eric enthusiastically supported his decision, saying that teenagers Should be enjoying their life.

Lin ended the call, and sat on his couch thinking about what was present in the ruins that was so important for the information hint to point him towards it.

In the end he couldn't figure it out and sighed.

The Man Upstairs. He knew nothing about who he was. He didn't know what the mission he received was for. He didn't know why he wanted Lin to do it.

But Lin did want to find out. And he hoped he'd receive some answers from the tombs. 

Until then, wait.