15 November Year 2367

"I'm Caleb Lancaster and this is Whitefang. Isn't he pretty cool? And you are Telfer Berkley, right? Let me show you where the treasury is."

Caleb patted Telfer's shoulder before heading into a deeper section of the Beast Keeping Area.

"Let me tell you more about myself. I'm a third year student who specializes in summoning magic. Whitefang is my very first summon. Unlike you, I joined The People's Blade on my own free will. Why? Because they promised to sponsor anything I need until I become a 5th circle mage. Also because, they want to bring about a revolution in the country. While 30% of the people in the country live in luxury, the other 70% are left to starve. You should have seen the slums right? Getting the Eternal Harmony is just the first step to getting there. A world where nobody suffers. Don't you think it's such a noble cause?"

Telfer nodded as he eyed the wolf that trailed behind him. The moment he made a move, he was sure the wolf would tear him to pieces. Noble cause my ass. A communist state will never function. Take a look at the Great Leap Forward...

"That's the scent of liar. You should really stop lying. Did you know, the reason why The People Blade's took me in was because of my nose? When people lie, the amount of sweat they produce increases. Like you right now. Lying won't take you anywhere, especially in front of someone who can blow you up at a moment's notice."

Caleb turned around and sneered at Telfer. A metal cube floated above his palm and bright ray of light flashed from it.

"What the fuck is that?" but nothing came out. There was no reply either.

That bastard... For now, I will do as told.

Telfer mentally added Caleb to his hit list. All of a sudden, Caleb stopped and a foul stench assaulted Telfer.

"We have arrived. The treasury is currently located underneath the refuse area."

You are fucking kidding me. We have to go through so much shit to get to the treasury?

"There's no need to fear, we are NOT going to swim in shit. What students don't know is that behind this statue of a wolf, there is actually a switch to get to the treasury. That's the easy part. The hard part is getting past the glyph arrays set up within the treasury. There are a total of 100 arrays, of which at least 50 of them will bring about certain death. You must be thinking, how will we get the sword then? You should know about the Freshmen Competition next Monday right? On that day, the school will disable the arrays for easy transportation of the prizes. That will include the sword. Intel says that this will be at 6 in the morning. You will be waiting here at 5 to enter and steal the sword. If all goes well, there will be a getaway car outside the school to bring you to HQ. That is Plan A. If you don't make it before the arrays are switched back on, we go to plan B, win the sword no matter the cost needed through competition. If you fail the first 2, no worry, there is still a plan C we hope that will not be used. If you fail the first plan, plan C will be enacted immediately alongside plan B. Don't question my orders, this all came down from HQ. Do you understand?"

Caleb pointed at a statue of a wolf that was positioned at the entrance of the refuse area and rambled.

"All right, if there is nothing else, I will be taking my leave. Have a good day."

Caleb smiled cheerfully at Telfer before strolled off, leaving Telfer to contemplate in silence.

If the intel is correct, there is a good chance of the plan going without a hitch. Not like I can say no anyway...

Telfer walked back to the dorm, ruminating on the possible outcomes of the plan. Although Plan C was not explained in detail, it most likely involved a lot of manpower. There was no way Telfer could back out. The bottom line was that he got the sword or certain death.

What if I kill Caleb and take the control from him? Can I fight off the wolf? What if they had more than one control on me?

Telfer sat on his bed and searched up Caleb Lancaster. Surprisingly, Caleb popped up in the leadership community section of the school's website.

That son of a bitch is ranked 8th in the school? Has displayed strength of a 3rd circle mage in public as of last year? There's no way I'm fighting him... Stealing it? No, that nose of his would pick up on me immediately.

Telfer crossed out fighting Caleb immediately. He was back to square 1.

Since there's no hope for me to escape his control, the probability of me entering the competition is quite high.

"Yo, where are you going?"

Vincent bumped into Telfer and asked.

"I'm just going out to train for abit."

Telfer gravely replied.

Inside a Testing Room, a young man stood covered in blood. However, he appeared to be completely ignorant of his circumstances as he was currently roaring with laughter.

"IT'S FINALLY COMPLETE! I'M COMING FOR YOU IDIOTS! I'M GONNA BUTCHER YOU LIKE THE PIGS YOU ARE!"

Telfer's smile stretched from ear to ear as he looked at his status window.

Status Window Titles: ??? Name: Telfer Berkley Age: 12 Race: Ghoul Gender: Male Alignment: ??? Stats Health: 40/110 Heath regen.: 8/min Energy: 0/60 Energy Regen.: 2/min Mana: 0/20 Mana Regen.: 1/min Strength: 6 Agility: 6 Dexterity: 6 Stamina: 7 Intelligence: 8 Wisdom: 8 Skills

Ghoul:

Mass Transfer

Magic Spells:

Poison Hand (Poison Magic)

Cloak (Illusion Magic)

Self created skills:

Yama's Strike

Telfer grinned despite his battered and bruised body. An across the board increase. Looks like training without rest has forced my body to adapt to my needs. Yama's Strike huh? Quite aptly named.

Countless dummies which were the equivalent of 3rd circle mages laid on the floor around Telfer. The entire testing room was covered in holes of various sizes. Acid dripped from the ceiling and dropped onto the floor to form a pool. A completely mangled body. His left arm in particular was twisted in unimaginable ways. Pieces of flesh clinged onto it as it looked like it was about to fall off. Open wounds everywhere, some deep enough to see bone. 8 hours of training had completely drained Telfer. However, Telfer had completed all his preparations for the competition. Cloak now used 3 mana while Poison Hand now took 1 mana. Telfer could now use Mass Transfer in a split second while Yama's Strike could be used twice consecutively although he would be left completely unguarded after that. The training had forced out Telfer's potential as his body increased the recovery rate to keep up with his training. As Telfer was laughing, a system notification went unnoticed.

"92% of Host's body is now made up of ghoul cells. Host's will completely transform into ghoul after 5 days."

Telfer dragged his body to the dorm before collapsing onto the bed.

"Oi, Kevin, what happened to you? Hello?"

Someone frantically shouted but a sea of darkness had already enveloped Telfer.

Azuma stared at Telfer's wreck of a body.

"Call the school matron now. Close the door as well."

Azuma commanded Vincent.

His instructions were swiftly carried out. 15 minutes later, a woman dressed in a nurse's uniform came in. "What happened to your friend?" The nurse was shocked beyond belief as she inspected Telfer's body.

"This is the most serious injury I have seen on a student in the 20 years I worked at the school. Multiple fractures on his along the left side of the body. Patches of corroded flesh. Fortunately, your friend seems to have quite the recovery rate. With my healing, he should be able to wake up tomorrow. However, he should not participate in the Freshman Competition on Monday, which will be 2 days from now. I gurantee you his body will not be able to withstand extreme movement and injuries. Please tell this to your friend. I will be leaving now."

The nurse spoke earnestly and stepped out of the dorm.

"What in the world happened to him? Wasn't it just training for abit?"

Vincent winced as he looked over Telfer's wounds.

"Wait, there's a... glyph on his neck."

Vincent stuttered as he pointed to a glyph that had been drawn onto Telfer's neck. Azuma narrowed his eyes. The nurse had completely missed the glyph array due to Telfer's severe injuries. It was a glyph array that he recognised too well.

"Shit. I did feel that something was wrong when Kevin arrived. Vincent, we are going to have to sit down and talk tomorrow."

Azuma looked back forth between Vincent and Telfer.

Meanwhile, Telfer was completely unaware about what had just transpired.

16 November Year 2367

Telfer opened his eyes and sat up. Ugh... my head hurts. Why am I covered in bandages?

"Finally awake huh? You had the both of us worried sick."

Azuma's voice broke Telfer out of his stupor.

Telfer blinked his eyes and focused. He was currently sitting on his bed while his 2 roommates were sitting opposite him.

Vincent handed Telfer a plate of magical beast meat and gestured for him to eat. He looked back at Azuma who was currently grimacing.

This is pretty good. I'm actually recovering my strength.

All of a sudden, Azuma stood up and said,

"Sorry. I drew that glyph array on you. I had no idea at the time that we would meet again like this."

"Why are you apologizing? The food tastes pretty good. Wait. YOU drew that damn control glyph? You evil son of a bitch, why would you make a slave? What did I do to you? Did you know what I had to go through? HUH?"

Telfer spat out his food and started to rise. Vincent hastily held Telfer down despite Telfer's incessant screaming to let him go.

Azuma bowed and continued speaking.

"I'm very sorry. There is no other way to put this. Although I drew the glyph, there is no way I can remove it directly. The glyph was drawn along with a explosion function that would go off even if I was the one who tried to remove it. Removing the flesh would not help either as it could possibly leave you in a vegetable like state. I am truly sorry. I have already contacted my family to try and find a more capable glyph inscription master who could possibly remove the glyph for you."

Telfer roared with anger. "SO YOU CAN'T EVEN UNDO WHAT YOU HAVE DONE? TRULY USELESS. A PLATE OF FOOD AND AN APOLOGY WON'T CUT IT. SOMEONE'S LIFE IS ON THE LINE HERE. AND GUESS WHAT? IT'S NOT YOURS YOU BITCH!"

Telfer's chest heaved up and down after his outburst. An awkward silence filled the room.

"You said directly. Is the control a metal cube? And also how much? What did they give you?"

Telfer whispered with barely controlled anger.

"Yes. Bring me the control and I will remove the glyph entirely. Five thousand dollars and 2 memory scrolls for my next 2 circles."

Azuma looked up before speaking.

"2 memory scrolls for future advancement huh? I guess anyone would jump at the chance. Though it pales in comparison to someone else I know..."

Telfer looked at the ceiling and snorted.

"How about you tell us about yourself?"

Vincent said meekly.

Telfer looked at Vincent in the eye.

"I guess I don't owe you anything. My actual name is Telfer Berkley, raised in the Vestak slums. Recently died but was brought back to life as a ghoul. I killed my father the day I was brought back to life. I was then kidnapped and forcefully put under the control of The People's Blade thanks to a certain someone. Hence, I am now currently attending Vestak Magic School to steal a treasure sword from the school. If I don't steal it, I die. The end."

Telfer said coldly.

"I had my suspicions but it was true after all. I saw a flash of blue light from your room the night you came. That blue light is unique to control glyphs. No other glyph actively produces light like this. I guess you are still participating then."

Azuma looked at the ground while speaking.

"Azuma, the nurse said..."

Vincent burst out in fear. He was covered entirely in sweat.

"Throw that thought out. He has to get the sword no matter what. I doubt those from The People's Blade have any second thoughts about killing him. Besides, his ghoul body will ensure complete recovery by tomorrow."

Azuma said absentmindedly before leaving the room. Vincent followed him in a hurry.

At the end of the day, it's still strength. The greatest one rises above all. I'm going to win no matter. That's the first step.

Telfer stabbed a piece of magical beast meat and clenched his hand around the fork.