Godspawn Ascendant [LitRPG, Epic Progression Fantasy]

Making it to one class after another on time and enduring boring lectures might be more painful and overwhelming than any injury, fight, or monster I'd ever encountered. In other words, attending school was a battle to overcome all on its own.

I trudged through the academy hallways and toward the mess hall, my book-filled bag pulling on my shoulder like it wanted to drag me down to unseen depths. It wasn't that the bag was too heavy for me, especially with my increased stats, but its presence as it hit my leg as I walked not only offered discomfort but also an unwelcome reminder of all the schoolwork I had to finish tonight.

Red walls from every direction welcomed me as I entered the mess hall. I immediately fell into line in front of the closest kiosk. My stomach rumbled as the various delicious, savory, and sweet smells of the food people ate around me wound their way into my nose.

PLEASE HOLD STILL FOR SCAN, the towering kiosk read on its screen once my turn arrived.

I'd gotten used to the structure of the academy by now, including the mess hall kiosks, and remained immobile, even holding my breath for a second or two.

SCAN COMPLETE. NEURAL IMPLANT DETECTED. WELCOME, RAYDEN GRIM. PLEASE MAKE YOUR DINNER SELECTIONS.

After receiving payment for my first scouting trip this morning, I now had 350 credits stored in my neural implant. It wasn't going to last me a very long time, especially when I needed to eat three meals a day. So, I needed to remain frugal while I waited for the next payday. That probably wouldn't happen until after my first trip as a member of Elite Group #1, and I had yet to receive a schedule of shifts for my new job.

I begrudgingly scrolled a finger toward the cheapest meal choices, then resigned myself to selecting a single chicken drumstick, a serving of… broccoli, whatever that was, and a glass of water.

SELECTION MADE. PLEASE DEPOSIT 12 CREDITS.

I pressed my entire palm on the warm, smooth surface of the kiosk and closed my eyes as I waited for the familiar ding that would alert me of a successful meal purchase.

The ding sounded, but right at the same time, a sharp pounding erupted on the side of my skull where the neural implant had been inserted.

I grimaced and rubbed at the area with my hand. It wasn't the first time use of the implant had brought on discomfort, dare I say pain. In my gut, I knew this was a bad thing, but I was growing accustomed to the inconvenience. But maybe I should ask a doctor about it anyway. There could be something I could do to help the situation.

I bent over to retrieve my food tray. I nearly dropped all of my food on the floor as someone startled me by shouting out my name. I gripped the tray, making sure to carefully balance my glass of water, and whirled around to find the source of the shouting.

"Rayden!"

Sarah waved me down from a table near the end of the mess hall, the student rings on her jumpsuit sleeve creating a blurred line of orange that streaked through the air. She yelled loud enough for the entire room full of people to hear her. Many eyes looked my way as she gestured for me to join her. I pursed my lips and, hopefully, pushed away any reddening in my cheeks, then weaved through the crowd toward my friend.

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I raised my eyebrows at myself as I walked, slightly surprised that I had thought of Sarah as a friend so easily. Well, we had been through a lot together for our Mastering Group Combat project, including that insane maze Professor Bilith had nonsensically set up to "test" us. I had half a mind to think the professor might have even found it amusing if any of her students had come out of it maimed or even dead. Sarah had been severely injured in the maze, and I luckily had the right herbs and a little bit of my own magic to heal her.

I returned Sarah's brilliantly large smile with my own small one and settled in across from where she sat. The long table where she'd claimed a seat was filled to the brim with students, all of whom I either barely recognized or didn't recognize at all. Sometimes, the idea of how big this school and city were still amazed me. In Edrona, I knew everyone's names, children's names, the names of their pet lizards…

"Class was fun today, huh?" Sarah said through a mouthful of blindingly white mashed potatoes.

"You mean how the rest of the class just glared at our group for winning the quest?" I tore into the white package containing my hot food. "Yeah, it was a blast."

Professor Bilith had revealed to our Mastering Group Combat class that my team had completed the assigned quest and pilfered the reward within her safe, much to the chagrin of the other groups. And once they'd heard about what we won, each of us receiving ethereas, I'd received more than a couple offers of money from other students to buy Eira off me. No offer deterred me, of course. If she was really worth as much as 2,000 credits as one snot-nosed, rich student had tried to give me, I would keep her.

Sarah shrugged, which loosened the already messy braid of her brown hair. "I thought it was funny. And you have to admit, it was nice to rub it into everyone else's faces."

"True," I said.

Ignoring the heat steaming off my chicken leg and nearly burning my fingers, I lifted it to my mouth and took an eager bite, resisting the urge to sigh in pleasure at the taste of buttery herbs and tender meat coating my tongue. I quickly decided to disregard the small pile of green, stemmy broccoli on my tray and focus solely on my chicken.

Sarah pushed aside her half-eaten tray of food, planted her elbows on the table with a loud bang, then rested her chin in her palms. She stared at me as I ate, head tilted and long eyelashes fluttering so quickly I thought she was having an unfortunate muscle spasm.

I squirmed in my hard seat, becoming intensely aware of how hot the room was. I set my gnawed clean chicken leg down and self-consciously wiped at the meat juice dripping down my chin. Why did she have to stare at me like that?

"What are your plans for tonight?" Sarah's voice lilted to a deeper register as she spoke, and her eyes narrowed slowly.

"Just a lot of schoolwork," I said with a shrug.

The corners of Sarah's lips tugged upward. "Same here. So… would you like to go on a date with me?"

I picked mindlessly at my pile of broccoli. "What's a date?"

I glanced up at my friend's face just as her thin brows drew together in confusion. But within seconds, a light shimmered in her green eyes, as if she'd just realized something–something that brought on a wide smile and a high-pitched giggle.

"You don't know? Where did you come from?"

I felt my face grow warm, and I shot my eyes down to my shuffling feet. "Far away. I don't know a lot of things, apparently."

Sarah leaned her torso over the table, long hair narrowly missing her food.

Her eyes met mine, and she whispered, "A date is really fun, I promise. I'll teach you all about it." As she spoke, a slight flush of red spread over Sarah's cheeks, but she quickly laughed it away. "I'll pick you up tonight at six."

I swallowed. Something about Sarah's incessant giggling and nervous smile made me anxious. Why was she so fluttery over asking me on a date? And seriously, what was a date?

We both finished the rest of our food quickly, offering short phrases of conversation here and there and then we parted ways.

Regardless of Sarah's strange behavior, having another friend in this strange place was nice. I also had Emmett, and I guessed Cinthara and I had become… friendly enough. At least we weren't trying to kill each other anymore.

I'd spent most of my life avoiding bullies and enduring ostracization in Edrona. Here, I was just one of many different people, and making friends in this world had proven a lot easier than back home.

It might be nice to spend some time with Sarah on this date of hers, I thought. I'd better get my schoolwork done quickly….