Don't Mind Me, I'm Just A Mystic arts Major

Zach had gotten to his residence a bit early; it was just 1 a.m. in the morning, and Zach stood by the front porch sipping a cup of hot lime juice.

Zach had hated the taste of the concoction a while back, but now the assistant had taught him how to make it.

Apparently, you were supposed to put something called honey into the mix.

Zach looked outside the porch to see a large van pulling up in front of his driveway with the name, "Astra Exchange Enterprise," boldly written on it.

"That was fast..." Zach blinked.

He darted downstairs like a little child hearing the sound of an ice cream truck.

People came out of the van, and Zach stood in front of the gate to greet them.

"Good morning, sir."

One of them, who was a middle-aged man, greeted.

The men carefully offloaded the cargo from the van.

The katana came in a strange rectangular box, and the mantle came in a strange glass prism.

Zach led them to his doorstep where they carefully offloaded the items.

"Please sign here..."

Zach took the clipboard and signed the necessary spaces.

"Is there a way I can store it?" Zach asked.

"Yes, sir. You just have to touch the item, and you'll automatically acquire it," the man bowed before going back to the van.

The car screeched and drove off, leaving Zach with his 45,000 gold coin investment.

Zach carefully took the items to the basement, a.k.a. the training facility.

Zach hadn't bought anything online, so he was a bit nervous.

Zach opened the box first, to see a black katana. The hilt and the sheath blended well and could easily make one think it was just a stick.

He held the weapon, and a system notification instantly appeared.

<You have acquired the astra Kamamowdo.>

Zach raised the sword into the air.

[Weapon: Kamamowdo]

[Description: Forged by wandering smiths of the Eastern Ashen Empire, the Kamamowdo was said to have cut through heavenly chains that bound mortals to fate. Its edge does not hunger for blood—it hungers for resolve. To hesitate is to waste it; to commit is to carve destiny.]

[MP Pool - 0000]

The description was the same as it was back in the app.

The MP pool basically meant the amount of energy stored in the blade.

Zach unsheathed the blade.

[Do you want to store magic power in this weapon?]

"Yes."

Zach wanted to test it out for himself.

[How much energy do you want to input?]

Zach has up to 100 MP right now, so.

"50," he said.

The feeling hit him instantly; it felt like his energy was being drained out of him.

The blade reacted immediately, glowing a faint red. Zach watched in astonishment.

He swung the blade, and red arcs of slashes burst out of the blade in all directions, dissipating after reaching a few meters out.

The attack didn't even collide with the wall on the other end of the room.

Zach raised a brow.

"Was the magic power too little?" Zach had put in an adequate amount of MP in there, and the blade couldn't perform a proper skill.

It goes to show that no astra was broken; all had limitations.

Zach was expecting a big blast, but as one may have it, the MP wasn't nearly enough.

Zach sheathed the blade. If he added another 50 MP, he wouldn't have enough strength to even test out the other item.

Zach held the glass prism.

"Break to open."

Zach tapped the glass with his fingers, and it shattered.

He touched the golden substance in it.

<You have acquired the astra Creed's Mantle.>

The golden liquid wrapped around Zach's body, creating a stunning and intricate pattern as it wrapped itself around him.

Zach stood in the middle of the training room, his entire body looked like a statue made with gold, with intricate carvings etched on his skin.

He checked his palm.

"Damn."

The defensive weapon seeped into his skin, disappearing out of sight.

[Creed's Mantle > off]

Zach was quite happy with what he got, so now it was time to train.

The next few days passed in a flash, filled with training sessions.

In the span of this time, Zach had learned to imitate the silhouettes' movements. Although he couldn't replicate it well enough, timing the exact moments, he was able to replicate it to the extent it looked almost identical.

The slash training Zach didn't slack off either, coming every day to practice his strokes and his movements.

"Okay, Zach, I'm off now." Zain tried to get out of the house, but the front door was locked.

"What is this?"

"That, my friend, means you aren't going anywhere," Zach grinned.

"But I have work today."

"Not anymore," Zach folded his arms.

"I've already contacted your manager. You don't have to work anymore," Zach turned around.

"You can relax. I'll be the one working from now on."

Since Zach couldn't help his mom, he would instead help his family.

Zach had also paid the hospital bills they were owing.

As it stands right now, they were debt-free.

Zain just dropped his bag.

"I hope you know what you're doing." He instantly plopped on the couch.

Zach chuckled; he could tell his brother never wanted to go anywhere in the first place.

"Hey, Zain,"

"Huh..." Zain looked at Zach.

"I'm going to be gone for a while," Zach said.

If he's heading to the Saint Academy, might as well let his brother know.

"But don't worry, I'll be going somewhere. In the meantime, you can have the whole house to yourself."

He smiled.

"That reminds me..." Zach pondered, wearing a cheeky grin.

"How's Samantha?"

Zain nearly plopped out of his seat.

"She... she's okay," he said, embarrassed.

"Tell her your brother said hi."

"Ugh... I just can't seem to hide anything from you."

Zain sighed, frustrated.

The two months leading to the Saint Academy expedition were the most grueling moments of Zach's life.

Zach stood in the basement; what looked like a training ground now looked like a battleground. Deep scars ran through the walls, scorched trails of slashes scattered all over, littering the training ground with scars.

Zach knelt in the middle of this rubble, sweat dripped from his forehead, his arms were muscular and toned, showing the hours of hard work and training he'd put into this.

Zach checked his stats again.

[OVERALL STATS]

[Name: Zachariah Keal]

[Age: 18]

[Race: Human]

[Sequence Level: Ignorance]

[Healing Speed: 0.00001/s]

[Blood Stones: 4758]

[Existence Stones: 67/100] <Reach the threshold to jump to your next sequence level>

[Strength: 27]

[Speed: 30]

[Senses: 21]

[Intelligence: 32]

[Agility: 29]

[HP: 17/100]

[MP: 2/100]

[Soul Essence: 10/100]

[Blood Essence: 45/1000]

[Skill Name – Crimson Overdrive] 5

[Channels flames to empower the body, heart, and soul.]

[Skill History – Crimson Overdrive was wielded by the Archangel Michael to split the Hades Dimension during the Final War against the Beast of Armageddon.]

[1/1]

~Tether mod~

…???… [Reach the Stage of Curiosity to Unlock]

~Arsenal~

[Cursed Tachi]

[Shadow Cloak]

[Map of Anchors]

[Warmth of Truth]

[Pendant of Truth]

[Light Chains]

[Aragoth's Token]

[Kamamowdo]

[Creed's Mantle > off]

Zach sighed.

His stats had jumped again.

The next few days were filled with the same old boring routine: wake up, shower, eat, and train, only to repeat the circle the next day.

It was honestly exhausting.

Zach was woken up by the honk of a black SUV just outside the gates, and a familiar face was waiting for him.

It was Iris.

The young seeker looked even more beautiful under the morning rays of the sun. Her brown hair and hazel eyes looked around the vicinity, slightly impressed.

Zach rushed out, wearing the uniform of the W.D. Enterprise.

It was a sleek coat with a pattern of a dragon stretched along its fabric.

Zach walked over to Iris, who held a big smile.

"Congratulations!" She celebrated.

"You have been given a scholarship. You should be grateful," she said.

"Yeah, I am."

They both entered the car and drove off.

"So, Zach, you aren't going just anywhere; you are heading to the highest realm."

Iris turned towards him.

Zach knew the highest realm was where the elites dwelled, but it shouldn't be that grand.

The car screeched in front of a massive building that towered over them like a glass palace.

Zach stepped out, looking at this towering structure.

"Welcome to the Realm Shifter," she explained.

"This building contains the portal to the higher realm."

They both walked inside, and Iris handed the card to the receptionist.

"Follow me," the receptionist led them to a field in the middle of the building.

The building was built in a circular way, leaving a field of green grass untouched.

In the middle of this field, a large beam of light that shot into the sky nestled, pulsating with a strange glow.

Around the portal was a cylindrical glass wall. Iris walked over to it and placed her hand on it.

The glass slid open, and Iris stepped into it, followed closely by Zach.