Transcendent Gene
Chapter 180: First Institute [4]

Chapter 180: First Institute [4]

[You are to live in this forest and face the dangers present within. There are also activities around that can be used to gain points that you’ll be able to use on rewards later.]

The old man gave a proper explanation of what was happening after instilling a bit of fear in the young Sequencers. In reality, his voice didn’t harm them at all. It only placed the illusion of pain on them, not that they knew any better.

[The forest is filled with dangerous beasts and adversaries that will be hostile towards you. If you can defeat them, you will gain points. If you find yourself across from a fellow first year, you may defeat them to steal their points.]

It was as much of an entrance test as it could be.

’It’s a little strange when there’s an actual entrance test most people have to pass to get to this point...’ Gio thought as he listened to the explanation.

Did they need a second round of inspection?

He didn’t think so. It was being framed as a way to test the new students’ mentalities, and that was surely part of the purpose, however, was that all?

Based on what he was hearing, Gio surmised that this was a chance disguised as a test, but recognizing that fact was a test in its own right.

’He doesn’t tell us what the points can be used for, but he’s so specific about how we can earn them. If there are beasts in the area, the space within the barrier was specifically curated for this.’

If they did poorly, it would have a negative impact on how their school year unfolded.

If they made the most of the opportunity, however, they would be able to attain several benefits that would improve their quality of life and even power.

Most of the young students had only acquired Gene and Bloodline Sequences with some minimal training under their belt. They didn’t know how to actually get stronger.

’If this is a way to teach us how to get stronger...’

Gio’s eyes sparkled at the possibility. Roughly around that same time, the old Headmaster’s speech came to an end.

[...you brats can figure out the rest yourselves. When the time comes, the barrier will open and you guys can make a mad rush back to campus. Until then, have fun by yourselves. Oh, and you...!]

Suddenly, the projection was looking straight at Gio.

[...get away from the barrier already. There’s nothing there for you yet, you greedy bastard.]

The Headmaster rolled his eyes at Gio’s surprised expression and shook his head. After cursing out a few other students, the projection disappeared entirely, allowing silence to descend back into the forest.

A holographic leaderboard appeared in the air. The names of ten students were displayed, but all of them had ten points.

Everyone started with ten points.

The realization only had to set in before sounds of battle replaced the silence.

’They’re so eager,’ Gio thought, shaking his head.

How were they able to target each other without even properly understanding their other options?

’The hot-bloodedness of youth, huh...honestly, it exists within me too.’

He also had the desire to prove himself in battle and show his worth, but there was a time and place for everything.

’He said that it wasn’t just beasts and enemies. He said there were activities we could do for points as well.’

Gio was curious about what had been prepared.

The Headmaster said there was nothing waiting for him at the border, but he would be a fool to believe it. He traveled along the edge of the forest and determined its entire size to be relatively average. They had a lot of space to maneuver through, but they couldn’t get anywhere near the borders of the Great Northern Forest where dangerous creatures lived.

’These activities, though...where are we supposed to find them?’

He traveled a bit more before diverting his path and going inward. Eventually, he found something interesting.

His steps slowed as he approached a small waterfall in the middle of nowhere. It looked as unnatural as it sounded. The water itself was a sparkling blue color. Both the rock formation it fell from and the pond it fell into looked manmade.

’Interesting...?’

Gio approached it carefully, using his eyes to look for any "change" that looked unusual in the formation.

However...

"You don’t need to keep staring at the waterfall. It’s just here to start the encounter."

Gio’s head swiveled to the side. There was a girl standing there with bright blue hair and eyes, wearing a blue sailor hat and a school uniform.

"We meet again, huh? Lots of coincidences today."

Serene smiled at him, her hands together behind her back. She had a smile on her face that didn’t spread to her eyes.

"I’m a second year, you know."

"You did say that," Gio responded, taking a step back.

His energy was already racing. She didn’t need to say the rest of what she wanted to say.

"Why would a second year be here, Gio? Do you know?"

"Well..." he said, slowly pressing his foot into the ground.

"...I think I do."

Bang!

He shot forward. A virtual sword appeared in his hand and at the same time, a line of blue flame shot forth from his foot and lit the ground below Serene ablaze.

"Wow!"

An exclamation came from within. Gio reached before the word finished flowing from her mouth and slashed his sword diagonally.

However, he didn’t feel any kind of solid impact. Rather...

"Bubbles?"

He muttered to himself as the flames parted, revealing Serene who was calmly standing inside a large soap bubble.

It would have been a comedic scene if that same soap bubble didn’t just deflect all of the force Gio laid onto her.

"You’re good!" She exclaimed happily.

"Most of the time, these end up boring. We’re supposed to go easy on you guys and make it easy for you to learn, but what’s the fun in that?"

Serene stepped back, leaving the radius of his flame. He followed and tried to cut her bubble again, but the result didn’t change.

"I like fighting. I like fighting even more when my opponents are strong. If you couldn’t tell, my Original Gene was something pretty useless at one point..."

She spread her fingers forward, summoning an army of smaller bubbles that floated into the world.

"I proved my worth through battle. That’s how I was able to actually become strong. Nowadays, I think I can really only respect people who can do the same."

Her words were casual, but they flowed with an ominous tone. Gio frowned as he felt danger and backed away from the bubbles filling the air around him.

"So, Gio..."

He rapidly put up a barrier.

"...can you prove yourself through battle, or are you going to become another nameless student at this school?"

Serene clenched her fist with a smile.

The world exploded.

Every bubble she’d let loose simultaneously erupted into a mess of volatile energy. The entire world around Gio was filled with white sparks like the aftermath of a fireworks show and even more bursting energy.

Within it all, Gio’s thoughts didn’t change a single time.

From start to finish, he really did feel like this was going overboard for an entrance ceremony!