Tournament,Oliver's rank

The next few days went by uneventfully, with me getting more and more proficient with the sword and Oliver more or less remaining the same. He seemed surprised of my fast progress with swordsmanship, but after I told him that it had awakened recently he seemed convinced. Anyway, I could feel that he was more cautious about his actions, as every move he made seemed precalculated, or analysed. Of course, that may very well be just my imagination, as his outside behavior didn't change much.

Although my swordsmanship was getting better quickly, in all of our spars he ended up winning and he didn't even use any other skills or arts. This made me wonder how strong he truly was. Also, his stats were another problem to be dealt with. How was I be able to update them in the catalogue with concrete proof? Just what can be considered concrete proof? A skill that would let me see other people's stats would be infinitely useful, but it seems that it was just a pipe dream. Maybe the academy had something akin to it to classify the students powers?

During this time, I wasn't just training, I was also exploring this new world. More specifically, its culture. It resembled earth, but there were some notable differences. Firstly, it seemed that this world had reached a level of globalization, as the concept of different countries didn't exist here. There were only different cities, all in one big continent. This may be because of the external threats that were looming constantly, like demons for example. Faced with such foes, humanity must have been forced to unite, to not get destroyed by these demons. The ruling ideology was sort of like a dictatorship, but it seemed that the person in power only acted for the collective good, which was extremely surprising, to say the least. Hence, this seemed more like an utopia. The person in power was named Octavius Haverford, and he was the 2nd strongest known human, at least in the public archives. Information regarding him was mostly unknown, most likely filtered away from the population. It is said that he striked a deal with the strongest user, who didn't seem interested in ruling the continent. Either way, it seemed that nobody was actively wanting to take his place as the ruler and he was in complete control of what was happening around here. Even though this was esentially a dictatorship, Octavius established a government and distributed aspects of the continent to different people. For example, there were people handling economy, nurturing the youth, overseeing military training etc. These people could propose decisions and laws to Octavius, and he could accept, reject them or modify them. Thus, the World Government was formed. This system seemed to be functioning quite well, as this society seemed to be thriving from most points of view.

There was a societal structure, and it was based solely on the ranking of individuals. Having a higher ranking meant your family had a higher status. Hence there was a considerable amount of pressure on the new generations, which had to prove themselves, in order to reach higher peaks, both for them or for their families.

The last part was more of speculation than anything, but It made sense, and I wanted to prepare for the worst case scenario: one where everyone was on their own in the academy and where the law of the jungle was thriving.

One day, Oliver told me that there was going to be a tournament soon, which specifically targeted teenagers of our age and the winner would be automatically admitted to any academy of choice. This was a huge opportunity for me. Of course, I was certain that winning was almost impossible, but just from sparring with Oliver I couldn't really pinpoint my exact strength compared to average and this was a very good opportunity to see how am I faring against the average joe and also to see some interesting skills or arts.

Hence, we both decided to go register to this tournament. We looked into it and we found out that it was organising by the government and we had to follow some instructions if we wanted to participate. Firstly, we had to mention the academy we wanted to get into and our personal information. After that, we went to a building which was the government headquarters. There, we were met by a guide which took our participation forms and looked over them. After some time, the guide said:

"These forms look fine, and you are qualified to participate. There is one more step though. In order to ensure fairness and a pleasant experience to everyone, we have divided the competition in the respective ranks. That means that there will be a winner for each rank that appears, from G all the way to S, if applicable. So, we will need to measure your rank to figure out in which category we should place you in."

Now that's very interesting to say the least. This is my chance to see what rank Oliver really is. I wonder how will he try to explain the discrepancy betweeen the truth and what he told me.

[Oliver's POV]

Outwardly, I am calm, showing a fake smile as if implying that everything in normal and this is just a formality. Inwardly, a chaos esued the moment these words were heard.

Well shit. How will I be able to explain my rank to William? If I refuse to comply this will seem even more suspicious, as the timing would literally be the worst. Do I pretend to oblige and then find a bullshit reason to escape the situation?

Wait. Maybe I can use this to my advantage. Maybe, just maybe, I can use the fact that the truth and what I told William differ. I can feign vulnerability, and make him believe that I trust him enough to show my weak side to him. That will, consequently, make his trust in me grow, unless he's some sort of psychopath or sociopath, which I confirmed he's not. Damn, I really am a genius. This will work out in the end, I'm sure of it."

[William's POV]

"Well, that won't pose much of a problem for me. What about you, William?" Said Oliver, nonchalantly.

Well, sucks for him. While trying to figure out the best approach to this situation, he was too absorbed in his plan and forgot his facade for a moment. From his perspective, if he had been the "protagonist" he was trying to represent, he should have shown at least a bothered reaction to this, as it would show me that he felt uncomfortable revealing it. Now, he only looked more suspicious. His approach was so perfect that it was flawed. That was his only mistake, from my perspective at least.

"Yes, of course. So how will we proceed?"

The guide pulled out a white cylinder-looking object with a screen on it, that I had not seen before, here nor in my previous life.

"It's quite simple, honestly. This is a measuring tool. As its name suggests, it is used to measure one's rank by extracting and analyzing the user's blood. Don't worry, the extraction won't hurt at all"

Saying this, we got our ranks analyzed. The analysis was almost instant, and our ranks displayed. Mine was G and Oliver's was D. Upon seeing it, a fake frown appeared on his face.

'It's kind of late now, Oliver, don't you think?' I couldn't help but think that seeing the situation.

"Well, that would be all. We hope to see you in the copetition. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

Oliver looked lost in his thoughts, so I thanked the guide and we both left. After some time, he finally spoke:

"William, I have to tell you something. I apologise for my behaviour. I shouldn't have lied to you, and I certainly should've told you about my rank sooner, not just whem I had no other choice. I was worrying about my safety. I'm really sorry. I have been through quite a lot in the past, and I learned to be cautious and reveal only what's necessary. I know that this won't fix my mistake, but it's the least I can do. Again, I apologize for deceiving you."

"I completely understand your point of view. You don't need to beat yourself up over it. I forgive you, and want to let you know that you aren't alone in this world. I don't want to pry, but it looks like your trust has been betrayed in the past. Not all people are bad people, you know? Life would be much better and easier if you had a friend, a true friend by your side. Either way, that's your choice. Just know that if you need support, I am here for you."

"You have no idea what this means to me. I'll think carefully about what you said. I'm quite tired now, so I'll head back home. Thanks again for understanding me. I wish there would be more people like you"

Saying that, Oliver left, his steps being quite hurried. I couldn't know what was going on in his head, but maybe my words have reached him?

[CATALOGUE UPDATED IN CONCORDANCE WITH VESSEL'S THOUGHS]

[Oliver(last name not known)

Philosophy:

Mask 1:

1.Justice prevails everything

2. Efforts never betray you

Non-mask:

1. As long as they are useful, bring them to your side

2. They are not equals, but subordinates

3. Exploit weaknesses, regard the target's feelings only if it impacts their obedience to you

4. My wellbeing is my utmost and only priority

Tendency: overwhelmingly neutral

Impression of you:Weak but somewhat intelligent, useful as a potential scapegoat or alibi.

???

1.People are selfish, horrible beings who will exploit you every time you let them

2. Never again should I trust anyone.

Stats:

Rank: D

Skills: ???

Traits: ???

Arts: Basic swordsmanship(sword art, grade 1, proficiency:???), Impulse generation(movement art, grade 3, proficiency: ???), ???

Abilities: ???

Strength: ???(???)

Agility: ???(???)

Stamina: ???(???)

Mana: ???/???

Mana core: ???

Intelligence: ???

Familiarity:30%

[CERTAIN MILESTONES REACHED; YOU HAVE RECEIVED 1 STT]

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