Clyde narrowed his eyes at the subtle magical ripple lingering in the air. He couldn’t ignore it.
"Someone... or something here has magic before the Selection Stage? That shouldn’t be possible."
In his previous life, the Selection Stage had arrived without warning. The sky tore open. The world twisted. People awakened to power or died instantly by thr monsters that suddenly appear.
There was no prelude or early signs. No fragments of magic wandering through an ordinary world. At least not what he knew of.
He had been clueless back then. Just trying to survive.
But this time was different. Maybe his knoweledge was lacking.
"Either something slipped through early... or my senses are getting dull."
He didn’t hesitate to find out and making sure. Clyde turned then walking with calm stels toward the edge of the school grounds where the magical presence was strongest. It pulled at him like a whisper on the wind.
Some students glanced his way with puzzled expression. A few laughed at him whispering about him heading toward the bushes like a weirdo. But Clyde ignored them. As long as they didn’t see him for what he truly was or what he eas possibly looking for, they were irrelevant.
He ducked into the brush beyond the gate’s edge. His shoes crunching softly on fallen leaves and twigs. His eyes scanned the ground with razor-sharp focus.
Lying half-buried beneath some branches was a slender piece of silver metal, about the length of his forearm. It was smooth and polished, but clearly unnatural of this environtment. It pulsed faintly with magic when he got closer. That’s when Clyde was certain that it wad actually magical things.
Clyde crouched and reached for it.
The moment his fingers made contact, a flash of blue light blinked across his vision.
[Name: Silvercoil Spear.]
Type: Weapon (Polearm Form)
Descriptipn: A compact spear forged with compressed metal from unknown blackmisth. When infused with magic power it elongates and transforms into its true form.
Clyde stared at it for a while with forwned expression.
"A hidden magical weapon... in a place ?" he muttered quietly. "That shouldn’t be here. Unless..."
"Unless someone or something is already preparing for the Selection without anyone knowing. They actually planting some weapons and maybe other things before the Selection Stage arrived? "
He held the dormant spear loosely in one hand. It felt cold at first, but began to subtly shift in weight, like it was awakening to his presence.
Clyde stood slowly then slipping the object into his jacket’s inner pocket. The metal adjusted to the space, compact and easily hidden.
"Silvercoil Spear," he repeated mentally. "Let’s see how useful you’ll be when the world starts burning again. This thing is definitely not as good as my old Elderglass sword but still better than nothing."
And without another word, he stepped back onto the pavement, the whispers of students already fading behind him.
After the last class ended, Clyde didn’t wait around. The bell had barely finished ringing when he was already outside the building, heading straight to the cafeteria.
He moved through the crowd without speaking, ignoring the laughter and chatter of students.
He found an empty table in the far corner and sat alone. His tray holding a basic lunch, nothing special, just enough to fill the stomach.
As he ate quietly, his thoughts spun.
"If someone’s planting magical weapons like the Silvercoil Spear before the Selection Stage... then there must be more."
Maybe the World Masters were seeding the world ahead of time and distributing tools, laying groundwork, or even preparing champions without warning. He didn’t know if that what actually happen or just in this world.
"Which means," Clyde thought, pausing mid-bite, "if I can find the rest of them before anyone else, I’ll have the advantage when the Selection begins."
But then came a counter thought.
"Won’t that draw attention, though? If I go around collecting magical things before anyone else even knows magic exists, I’ll end up back on their radar."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
But after a few seconds, his lips curled in a small smile.
"No... it’s fine," he murmured under his breath. "They’re watching for Clyde. The anomaly who ruined their order. But now, I’m just Jack. A nobody from a lower world. A weakling who suddenly got lucky."
He leaned back in his seat slightly.
"If I play it right... maybe I can even make a deal with one of them again. This time, on my terms."
Just as he reached for another bite of his food, a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Mind if we sit here?"
Mina stood across the table, tray in hand and smiling faintly. Beside her were two girls who were probably her friends. They looked uncomfortable, one of them frowning slightly at Clyde, the other already checking her phone.
Clyde didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. Mina took that as permission and sat anyway. Her friends followed reluctantly.
No one said anything at first.
Clyde didn’t offer a greeting or ask why they were here.
He just returned to eating. Bite by bite. Calm, focused, as if the three girls in front of him didn’t exist.
The tension was obvious.
Mina tried to break it. "You eat alone a lot, huh?"
Clyde looked at her for a second, then returned to his food.
"I don’t mind it," he said simply.
One of her friends mumbled under her breath, "Why are we sitting with him?"
Mina gave her a look, then turned back to Clyde. "You really are different these days. You talk and acy different. It’s like... someone else is wearing your skin."
That made Clyde pause briefly.
He glanced at her again. Her tone wasn’t accusatory. Just curious.
He smiled faintly. "Maybe I got tired of my old self."
Mina blinked at that answer, as if unsure whether it was deep or dismissive.
Clyde went back to eating, but his mind was already turning.
"So Mina is paying attention to me, or rather to Jack. More than she lets on. That could be a problem... or an opportunity."
But either way—he wouldn’t let anyone slow him down. If Mina give him trouble he can only push her away in harsh way.