Chapter 288: First Hearing of the Secret Realm
The conversation that morning wasn’t anything special to Owen, at most just a casual chat, but it had a big impact on Robert because his attitude towards Owen suddenly changed.
Actually, Robert was a smart person. After realizing he was being isolated by the three, he regretted it a bit. It wasn’t that he was brainless, but after being arranged by the academy to live in the villa area and personally experiencing the vastly different living conditions between commoner and noble students, he felt very unbalanced, hence his overly obvious attitude.
But after calming down, Robert realized that he almost cut off his path to integrating into the upper circle.
That’s right, Robert’s biggest dream in life was to become a noble.
Actually, having this kind of thought is very normal. In fact, ninety-nine percent of commoner students have this idea. Their conflict with noble students is not a class conflict, but rather a desire to enter this circle but being unable to. If they were really put into the circle, they would suppress their former companions even more ruthlessly than the noble students. This is human nature.
It’s just like everyone scolding the rich, but everyone wants to become rich, because you can’t experience the happiness of the rich.
Robert is no exception. He is no longer that simple country boy. After seeing a wider world, who would want to go back to the countryside and be a dog for that third-rate lord?
And he knew very well that if he wanted to go further, he had to step into that circle. Only in this way could he access more, gain more, and improve his strength faster. This is also the reason why the Academy City transferred the talented commoner students they valued to the villa area where the noble students lived. It depends on whether you can understand it or not.
Obviously, Robert quickly realized the Academy City’s good intentions and had been looking for opportunities to improve his relationship with the other three, and Owen’s conversation that morning was exactly what he needed.
Actually, choosing Owen wasn’t a random choice for Robert. Among the three roommates, Peters looked unreliable at first glance, Coles was too introverted, and only Owen gave him the best feeling, a kind of gentle and equal feeling.
Moreover, being from a Northland noble family was more in line with Robert’s thinking. Because both sides were not the mainstream of the Academy City, the backyard was so big, he didn’t train in the middle, nor did he train at Coles’s place, but trained at Owen’s window. Wasn’t it just to create an opportunity?
Peters was well aware of Robert’s little thoughts, but he didn’t mean to expose him.
For one thing, it was none of his business. For another, compared to Robert, whose potential had not been fully realized, the mysterious Owen was obviously more valuable. And thirdly, that kid had already been targeted. It was a question whether he could even survive.
Peters didn’t hide this last point from Owen. He casually mentioned it while the three of them were having coffee.
“You’re saying Robert was targeted by a Duke’s daughter?” Owen put down his coffee and frowned.
“That’s right. You’d better not get involved. Even among the arrogant young ladies, that one’s personality is one of the most twisted.” Peters’s face didn’t look good when he said this, obviously someone he couldn’t afford to offend. Coles also nodded when he heard this, seemingly having heard of her.
Silvia, the daughter of Grand Duke Macaron, was also a famous super genius in the Academy City.
Needless to say about her family background, the “Grand” before Duke meant that she was different from ordinary Dukes, the kind who could establish their own countries. So even if Silvia called herself a princess, no one would say anything.
In contrast, although Robert was a talented student recognized by the Academy City, he was only talented. No matter from family background, strength, or potential, he was no match for her. If he was really targeted, there was no room for resistance at all.
“I don’t think there’s anything about Robert that’s worth a Duke’s daughter wasting her time on,” Owen said, shaking his head after a moment.
It wasn’t that Owen looked down on Robert. He did have good talent and potential, but that was all. It was still a long way from being realized.
Even if his potential was fully realized, what then? At most, he would be a master swordsman, and that was the most perfect situation. Generally speaking, the peak of the advanced level was probably his ceiling in this life. He simply didn’t have that much value to be worth a Duke’s daughter spending her time trying to win him over.
“If it were a few years ago or next year, Robert would certainly be nothing. But this year is the Secret Realm Competition that happens once every decade. Anyone who is confident in themselves won’t miss this opportunity.” Peters gave Owen a meaningful look, obviously mistaking his purpose for coming to the Academy City for this event.
Since Owen pretended not to know, Peters personally explained it in detail.
“Secret Realm?!” Owen really didn’t know that the Academy City was actually hiding a Secret Realm. But if he were the protagonist, since he was studying here, then it would make perfect sense for the academy to hide a Secret Realm. And he could guarantee that there must be some precious treasures waiting for him to unearth in the Secret Realm, because it was completely reasonable.
The Academy City would open the Secret Realm once every ten years and leave ten keys to open the Secret Realm inside. Those who found the keys would gain the right to freely enter and exit the Secret Realm.
Silvia was targeting Robert to increase the power in her hands. After all, the Secret Realm was large and dangerous, and the power of one person alone was limited. Therefore, the more teammates gathered, the greater the advantage.
Unfortunately, Peters didn’t know what was inside the Secret Realm. He only knew it was very dangerous, but it also had great benefits. Many of the students who successfully kept the keys and grew up in previous generations became legends. Otherwise, how could it have such great appeal that even the Duke’s daughter was tempted?
Coles, who had deliberately arrived to enroll this year, also didn’t know much about the Secret Realm. It was arranged by his family. But he had a good attitude, holding the view that participation was the most important thing. If there were gains, it would be great, if not, then forget it.
After hearing about the Secret Realm, it had to be said that Owen was tempted. Although it was very dangerous, it was only very dangerous. As long as he was prepared, even if he encountered someone he couldn’t beat, he could still escape successfully. So he decided to sign up to participate, but he didn’t expect that he would still need to test for qualifications. No wonder that Duke’s daughter had targeted Robert, because ordinary people didn’t even have the qualifications to participate.
For Owen, passing the test wasn’t difficult. The difficulty was exposing that side of himself, because he had too many trump cards. He could casually take out any one of them, and as long as a legend didn’t appear, he could run rampant in the Academy City.
In the end, Owen decided to use his identity as a Puppeteer as his first public persona. But first, he had to adjust his puppet inventory to make it easier to use during battles.
As the extraordinary profession Owen chose the earliest, Puppeteer was the one he spent the most time and energy on. Even when he was bored, he would make some to pass the time. Therefore, his inventory was quite substantial, but he never had much opportunity to use them. Now that he had the chance to show them off, he was quite excited.
