Awakening: Starting With The Villain System

Understanding 'Simple Domain,' though… that was the real puzzle. I am still trying to understand it till now.

Well, let's just say for now it can do a lot, and also frustratingly little.

'Simple Domain' was called simple because it was, well, simple.

Not as something wide, complex, and overpowered like the reality-warping domains seen in other fictions.

I thought it was something huge, and overpowered mainly due to the fact that many people were after it.

I learnt that simple domain was called simple because of my low level.

It is a normal, full-powered domain, but due to my level it downgraded to simple.

The potential is there, practically sleeping, but my body and spirit aren't strong enough to channel it yet.

The realization was mind-blowing.

So if someone of a high level that scales to planetary has this… well, actually, at that point it would just be called 'Domain.'

The person would be able to literally control a whole planet like destroy it, reshape it, recreate it and more.

It simply had no limitations.

Thinking of it I couldn't help but wish all my stats would just go crazily up.

The power was tempting. To have that kind of absolute control… it was the dream, wasn't it? The ultimate expression of villainy.

But for now, I only had simple domain, so I had to think of how to put this to good use with what I actually had, not what I wished for.

In simple domain, for what I understand now, it's just a domain where all laws of reality, like physics, concepts, laws and other things is totally negated in my domain, only my will is in control.

I can make gravity flip upside down within that invincible area around me.

I can decide that within my space, fire is cold and water burns.

I can make the air as solid as a brick wall. It's a bubble of personal reality.

The potential is terrifying and immense, but they required a whole lot of magic power

And I didn't have that level of magic power to do all those.

So for now, I had to stick with the basics.

I sighed, shifting the thought of my domain aside.

There was no point ruminating on cosmic power while walking through the brightly lit, hallways of the academy. My brain needed a break.

Currently, I was on my way going to class.

The thought alone was enough to make my steps feel heavier.

Well, I contemplated if I should go or not.

I'd stood outside my dorm for a solid five minutes, mentally weighing the pros and cons of just turning around and going back to bed. But I went anyways.

The pull of routine, of not making waves, was stronger than my desire for a few more hours of freedom.

My case was like a worker who hated his job, but went anyways.

That feeling of resigned obligation, that dull sense of having to perform a function day in and day out, even when every fiber of your being is screaming for something else.

They didn't have a choice. It wasn't like I had a choice either. Not really.

Missing class was one of the worse things that can happen to someone at this academy.

That's if you didn't report your absence, or rather yet have a solid reason for being absent.

And if you are absent for no reason, or for a non-solid reason, or even worse, didn't report about it at all, the consequences were swift.

Your class assessment and marks would be reduced.

Just like that. A chunk of your grade, gone.

It's not like they would increase your class assessment if you are always coming to class either.

Showing up was the baseline expectation.

It didn't earn you bonus points; it just kept you from being penalized.

But it would only put a positive result on you.

Consistency. Reliability. Making your results fine, and positive in the eyes of the instructors.

But it was half useless, and half useful.

Which seemed unfair to me. Or rather yet, it actually was unfair.

The academy seemed like it was run by people who didn't know, and understand the pain, and struggle of waking up every single day just to sit on a chair for some boring lesson on magical theory you'll probably never use.

Well, it's not like I was complaining. Okay, partially I was actually complaining, but still... I had no choice or say in it.

My personal feelings were irrelevant.

The academy was my only ticket to becoming stronger, and being the better version of myself.

It was the structured path, the place with the resources and the knowledge I couldn't get on my own, no matter how much money I had.

Practically a stepping stone for being great.

That was my motivation everyday, the mantra I repeated as I dragged myself to another lecture.

I was doing this for an important reason.

This grind, this boredom, was an investment.

While I was walking through the hallway, my mind on stats and domains, I spotted a scene that made me instinctively slow down.

Up ahead, five boys were cornering another boy in an alcove near the lockers.

Their body language was all too familiar: cocky, aggressive, closed off.

The one boy was trying to make himself smaller, his shoulders hunched.

Bullies.

The word left a sour taste in my mouth.

I thought they weren't existing here, or at least, I didn't even encounter them in my first weeks.

Well, it was actually that they didn't show themselves. They'd kept their heads down.

It was probably after the recent rank assessment that they began showing their true colors.

Now that they were ranked, now that they had a piece of paper officially telling them they were better than someone else, they might as well flex that power and bully the weak.

But when there weren't ranks, they didn't dare because they didn't know who was strong or weaker than them.

It was the coward's way.

I thought for a second about changing direction and just finding another way to pass.

The last thing I needed was to get involved. I wanted to avoid people like this.

They were drama magnets, and drama was exhausting.

I didn't like problems or having anything to do with them.

My life was complicated enough.

I paused, weighing my options.

The detour would take me down two other corridors and add at least five minutes to my journey.

I thought for a moment before deciding.

I don't see the use on turning around; it would only just take me longer to reach the class.

I can't sacrifice my time and my stamina just to avoid five idiots.

They weren't worth the extra steps.

So, I steeled myself. I straightened my spine, wiped any hint of uncertainty from my face, and settled into what I hoped was a neutral, slightly menacing expression.

I didn't want to look like a victim. Maybe that would unlabel me from being an easy target.

If I looked like I couldn't be bothered, like I was just passing through on more important business, maybe they'd just ignore me.

Or so I thought.