Chapter 40: C40 – Backbone

"Welcome, second years. Today, you are all here for your first kill initiation. This will mark the beginning of your life as a magician or warrior. Should you pass, you will be allowed to dungeon dive and continue attending the academy. Should you fail, you may be expelled. Now, I'm not going to give a lengthy speech. The only thing I want to let you all know about is the fact that none of you will be under any life-threatening danger. While the monsters here today are capable of injuring and even killing you, we will not allow them to kill. Your goal is to kill them instead. Do so, and you pass. Now, take a look at what you will be facing."

The duke spoke to all the kids, afterward motioning over to one of the other stages. A magic barrier was lifted in that instant, and everyone could see something new. 

Line after line of chained-up monsters. These monsters were short and humanoid. Their limbs were skinny, their skin a pale tan, their teeth abnormally sharp, and their heads large. 

These were goblins. Goblins were one of the most primitive species, but they are capable of evolving into much more fearsome creatures. They were considered the primitive ancestors of the intelligent dwarves, and their evolutions include the fearsome ogres. 

Despite being the most primitive, however, they were by no means weak. Hillshire continued to explain after all the kids looked at their opponents.

"These are goblins. I'm sure you all know what a goblin is. The ones we've picked out for you all are all at the peak of Rank 1. They are about as strong as an ordinary adult man. Because of this, they are plenty capable of doing damage. You will need your magic or your anima in order to kill them. Should you only use your bodily strength, you may not get far. Now, it's time to start your initiations. The first ones to go will be those who competed in the tournament, and the first to start off among those will be your champion, Dirk Strider."

The duke said the first name, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. They then looked around, all eyes eventually falling on the armor-less Dirk. 

'I can't tell if that's unlucky or not...'

Dirk sighed inwardly. Ava looked at him worriedly for a second before he walked over. The kids all opened up a path, and he walked up to the arena. 

"Bring the first one over."

The duke spoke, and one of the staff members unchained a goblin. They restrained it easily as they walked it over and paced it into the arena with Dirk. The goblin growled and struggled the entire time, showing off its ferocity. The duke walked over to stand next to Dirk.

"Now Dirk, since you are the champion, we've picked out a special one for you. This one is Rank 2, so it's stronger than the others. As the champion of your class, you will be expected to perform better. Your display in the tournament fights show that you should be capable of fighting a goblin of this level. Also..."

The duke's voice became lower as he bent down to whisper in Dirk's ear.

"This is a request from your parents. Make them proud."

With that, the duke stood back up. Dirk had a weird expression on his face as he did so. 

"Now Dirk, are you ready?"

Hillshire backed up, standing in the corner of the arena away from the goblin and Dirk. Dirk simply nodded, unsheathing his knife. 

"Good. Release the goblin."

With that, the goblin was unchained. It went berserk for a bit, slashing at the staff before turning and laying eyes on Dirk. It growled and stared at him with its odd eyes. Dirk stared back, an odd feeling welling up within him. 

'Draw blood...'

Dirk's heart rate slowed, and it was as if something was whispering in his ear. He concentrated on the goblin as it inched closer to him. He didn't move.

'Kill it...'

Another whisper, and the goblin suddenly dashed toward Dirk. He simply stood in place as it rushed him. He could tell, the goblin wanted nothing more than to tear his throat out and eat his guts. Its primal instinct for killing was unmatched.

The goblin rapidly approached, and soon, it was only a few feet away. Dirk looked straight into its eyes as something seemed to explode out of him. 

'End its filthy life!'

*Shing!*

Like a bullet, Dirk's arm shot up. The goblin's movements stopped, its face right in front of his. Every single one of Dirk's classmates were holding their breaths. 

*Drip*

Dirk looked down. His hand was right under the goblin's chin, and the blade of the knife in its skull. The top of the knife protruded out of the top of the goblin's head. Its body was also suspended above the floor as Dirk lifted it up with the knife. 

As if snapping out of a dream, Dirk returned to reality. He felt his heart, which was beating at a surprisingly slow rate, and then he realized that anima was being consumed to strengthen him. Stopping his activation of anima and relaxing his body, he looked at all the blood dripping down his hand and onto his arm. He lowered the goblin and grabbed its head with his free hand, pulling it off the knife and tossing the body aside like a ragdoll. 

Grabbing a cloth from his pocket, Dirk wiped the knife of all blood. When it was all clean, he returned it to its sheath, looking over to the duke with a blank gaze.

The duke returned the look, his eyes gleaming as if he were pondering something. Dirk's parents, who were also secretly in the stands, had several thoughts cross their minds as well. 

"...Good job, Dirk. The champion doesn't disappoint. You can either stay here or go home to clean up."

"Understood."

With a nod, Dirk stepped off the stage. Some staff members came and cleaned up the goblin body before the next student was called up. It was the second place kid who lost to Dirk, Alec.

Alec stepped up to the stage, glancing at Dirk before concentrating on the next goblin. This one was weaker than Dirk's, but he didn't seem to care. He unsheathed his sword as the goblin was released, and with a single stroke, the goblin was beheaded. He then sheathed the sword and walked down, not sparing anyone a glance as he exited the stadium. 

Next, it was Ava's turn. She turned to Dirk who had returned to her side. He just nodded to her, and she went up. 

She stood face to face with her goblin. She lifted her war axe, and the goblin was released. She thought about Dirk's and Alec's previous kills and sought to do the same. 

'One stroke.'

She thought to herself as she prepared. And when the goblin got close, she lifted and brought down her axe. The blade came right down on the goblin's skull, smashing it to nothing. It then continued to the body, crashing through it uninhibited. 

After the axe slammed into the floor, Ava stopped and picked her axe back up. She looked at the body that was reduced to gore in front of her, and her stomach contracted. 

She lifted her hand to her mouth, her body overwhelmed by weakness. She used her axe to prop herself up as she barely held back from throwing up. She eventually turned away, taking time to settle herself. She thought of how Dirk didn't even flinch and how she shouldn't either. She yelled at herself in her mind, forcing herself to stand straight and walk off the stage. She didn't even respond as the duke congratulated her, too concentrated on keeping her stomach in check. 

When she got back to Dirk, she pushed him toward the exit. He followed along as they left, heading back to the house. As the two walked out, a man in the stands raised his head and eyed them, his mouth ever so slightly curving into a smile. 

*Cough!*

Upon walking through the door to the house, Ava rushed to the kitchen sink and heaved a few times. Dirk walked to her side in case she threw up, holding her hair. 

She didn't though. After almost 10 minutes, she seemed to calm down. Dirk could see it in her eyes though. The only thing she could think of was that gory mess she made. 

"How... do you stay so calm?"

She asked after a while. Dirk glanced at her.

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"It's only a monster and has no real life. I wouldn't think any more of it than I do the animals I eat every day for dinner, if not less. You'll get used to it with time and experience."

"...I guess."

Ava nodded and sighed. Meanwhile, Dirk pondered when he had first taken a life. In his other life, he had been trained to be numb to killing. It was ensured that it wouldn't affect him in any way, as only then could he kill with maximum efficiency. His first kill, he had thrown up himself. However, that was after killing an actual person. Still, he did indeed become numb to such things rather quickly. It became totally normal, just as normal as shooting a gun or eating food. Dirk couldn't even imagine being fazed by the death of a human anymore, let alone a mindless monster like a goblin. To him, a goblin was lower than even animals that could provide something to him. 

Coming to this point though, Dirk thought back to when he killed the goblin, and he frowned. He had been overcome by this sense of bloodlust and reduced to instinct. He could barely remember when the goblin was running toward him. He hadn't fallen to such tunnel vision in many, many years, and the fact that he did now concerned him. 

'Something about me is different. There's something in me that pushes me to fight, like in the tournament. It clouds my rationale. I'm just glad I still used the weapon this time...'

Dirk pondered his situation. He had noticed how his desire to fight surged when in such positions as with the goblin. When face to face with an enemy, his blood surged. For him, this wasn't normal. He was always totally aware of everything around him and calm as a rock. This was how he could keep himself alive through the most precarious situations. But there was now something that was clouding that. Something in him was affecting him, but he didn't know what. 

'What about you, interface. Did you hear those whispers?'

[Negative. During your engagement, there was no abnormal audio.]

'Hmm...'

He rubbed his chin. After a while though, he just gave up. He would try to pinpoint it next time. 

After Ava settled down, the two moved to the couch and stayed there in silence. During this silence, Dirk pondered for a while before giving a command.

'Generate model.'

[Building host model.]

With a word, Dirk decided to check his body.

[Host model:

Host Age: 13 years

Blood type: ??? (Mana compatible blood)

Skeletal structure: Organic iron composite

Muscle structure: High power compacted fibers 

Sensory organs: High sensitivity organic receptors 

Self-replicating Nano-robotic maintenance and repair systems: Online

Final Stand weapon system: 92%, building

Overdrive systems: Online

Current bodily state: Combat capable, 100% healthy]

[Intelligence systems fully functional. Awaiting host orders.]

Dirk looked at the model and nodded. 

Not long after Dirk had his little incident where all his blood was purged from his body, the AI scanned and analyzed the new blood. However, the type it was changed to wasn't any of the normal types. Because of that, it couldn't name it. However, because it knew that the blood was compatible with mana, it just decided to call it as such. 

Other than that, the thing Dirk was most excited about was his Final Stand weapon system. Over the years, it had slowly attained minerals from Dirk and was able to build most of itself. It only needed a bit more now and estimated another few months until completion. Dirk could already feel the weapon in his abdomen. Technically, he could actually use it should he really need it. It would just be deployed with reduced performance, and this meant fewer bullets and a weaker structure. 

But he had no need for it right now. All he needed to do was wait. 

'Profile.'

With another thought, Dirk checked his magic profile.

.............................

|Profile|

Name: Dirk Strider

Species: Human

Tier: II+

Rank: III+

Attributes: Fire - 71% (Lightning - 89%), Earth - 88% (Metal - 93%), Dark - 92%

Traits: Cybernetic Enhancement, Adaptable Genes, Pure Soul

Skills: A.I. Interface (Grade 7)

.................................

Dirk looked over the stats. 

Until now, he had been working nonstop to cultivate his mana heart and carry out destruction cycles on his blood. However, as he got closer to completing both, they slowed down.

His mana heart felt like it was on the verge of breaking through, but it had yet to cross a certain threshold. He didn't yet get the feelings that his book described, so he just stayed patient and continued. At the same time, he also researched the rune that his technique wanted him to implant onto the heart, the one that would match the contraction of the mana heart to the beating of his actual heart. Surprisingly though, he was able to find similarities between the rune of the mana heart and enchanting. After today, he was thinking that learning enchanting would help him with his mana heart. 

As for his blood, that was just a matter of time. He couldn't tell how much blood was enhanced after every cycle, so he could only do the same thing over and over again. However, he didn't think it would take too much longer. He figured that he could advance to rank 4 after he reached Tier 3. 

With that, Dirk was now familiar with his general position. And with the first kill initiation out of the way, he could move on to preparing for his first dungeon dive which would be at the end of the month. 

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