Just as Alexander expected, his body became a little out of control again due to the rapid growth. Fortunately for him, the experience he gained since leaving the Lost Woods helped him manage the situation.

  Needing to leave his room to eat and find an open space to practice, Alexander returned to his human form, put on one of his casual sets, which had become a little tight, and headed to the Guild's reception.

  "Good morning, Mary. Do you know if there's any food ready yet?" he asked upon reaching Mary's counter, which was empty. "I know it's not exactly meal time, but Ocean and I haven't eaten anything today."

  "..." Mary.

  Only after a few seconds of seeing her stare at him as if trying to understand something did Alexander notice his mistake in not taking into high account the effect of the increase in his (Charisma) attribute on his appearance and aura.

  Before he could say anything, Mary lowered her head and answered him sheepishly: "I'm sorry, Alexander… But yes, there is still food ready."

  Not knowing the best way to deal with the situation, he simply acted as if nothing had happened. "Thank you, Mary. Could you ask someone to leave my portion and Ocean's in the room?"

  Mary, who saw no problem with such a request, asked someone to take their food to the room.

  With that matter resolved, Alexander returned to his room and thought a bit about how he should proceed from then on: "I already have a general idea of how I want to fight and a place to teach me, but I still need to choose what my next evolution will be, as the prerequisites can be complicated."

  "It's better to borrow the Guild's glossary to choose my evolution line well without relying on chance," he concluded. "And from what I remember, the glossary of this branch of the Adventurers Guild must be much better than the one kept in Phoenix City."

  As soon as they finished eating, Alexander went to the reception and asked to take out the Guild's glossary, one of the exclusive advantages for silver-rank adventurers and above, and went looking for a place near the city to practice.

  On his way, he took the opportunity to sell everything he obtained in the previous days to the Black Moon company. A transaction that, due to the 2nd evolution creatures, earned him over 1 small platinum coin.

  Satisfied to finally be out of the "poverty" he was in, Alexander spent the rest of the day practicing with Ocean, to improve his bodily control, and reading the glossary when he needed to stop to rest, to increase his understanding of his possible evolutionary paths.

  After training for several consecutive hours, he saw the sun begin to set and returned to the Guild, as he needed to return the glossary, eat something, take a bath and sleep to be able to wake up well the next day.

  With a good night's sleep in his goblin form, Alexander was back to the best conditions to go to the academy. He then prepared to go, had a quick meal, (bribed) negotiated with Ocean to go out, borrowed one of the Guild's glossaries and, as in some kind of morning ritual, checked his status before really starting the day.

  『 Status 』

  Name: Alexander Ocean ♂

  Race: Human

  Age: 15

  Condition: Good

  If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Level: 25/45

  Class: Versatile Water Sorcerer

  Talent: Evolutionary Metamorphosis

  Metamorphosis Race: Dual-Core Goblin

  HP: 542/542

  Ki: 346/346

  Mana: 573/573

  MP: 455/455

  "(!!!)" Upon looking at his Status that morning, Alexander was surprised to notice that there had been a change. "I turned 15 today? … So my birthday in this world is on the first day of the year, huh?"

  Surprised by this information, but with little use for it, he finished getting ready and went to the academy, observing the movement and the streets around him.

  As soon as Alexander arrived in front of the combat academy gates, the guards recognized his uniform and asked him: "Your name and your combat style."

  "Alexander Ocean. Hybrid combat," he informed.

  Trained to recognize all the information of the new students, the guards didn't check anything and one of them pointed him the way while writing something on a card: "Take the left path and follow it to the end. The door you'll find is your classroom."

  Alexander thanked the guard for the information and walked slowly along the indicated path to observe the interior of one of the five largest combat academies of the Vermilion Empire.

  Upon reaching the indicated place, he found a group of people already waiting in front of the classroom. The group couldn't be more varied, both in their species/races and in the emotions they displayed.

  Without much to do and without knowing anyone there, Alexander leaned against a wall, took the glossary from the storage item on his waist and started reading it while waiting.

  Sometime later, Lucas appeared with a wide and unpretentious smile, as if he had nothing to worry about in life. "Starting today, you are formally students of the Twin Combats Academy. I am the person in charge of your hybrid combat class. You can call me Lucas or professor, it's up to you."

  "Each of you has received or will receive a ranking. The higher your ranking, the more the academy will be willing to invest in your qualification as a whole," explained Lucas, with his smile growing wider and wider. "The strong get almost everything and the weak get almost nothing. Simple as that."

  "Classes will always be in the morning, and you'll only have one day off per week," he continued. "You'll also have alternating days of theory and practice. And the afternoon will normally be free for you to do whatever you want."

  As soon as he finished giving the basic information, Lucas changed his unpretentious smile into a rotten and mischievous one. "That's all the information you need for now. Now follow me."

  Lucas smiled happily the entire time while leading the group, as if he were eager for what was to come. He only stopped when he arrived in front of a square arena measuring about 50m x 50m. "This is the arena designated for your class. It will normally be used for practical classes, but today we're going to have a small tournament among beginner students."

  Lucas seemed very excited about the idea, but most of the students did not share his enthusiasm, and this included Alexander, who went to find a place to sit and read the glossary he borrowed from the Guild.

  Seeing his chance to have fun at the students' expense crumble without being able to do anything about it, since this tournament was not on the academy's schedule and he had already been warned about forcing students into something similar in the past, Lucas became a little anxious.

  Thinking about how to solve this issue, Lucas remembered that he was now, technically, a professor at the academy. As such, he could use some of its resources. "The winner will receive a prize. And if the winner is not a noble, they will receive an extra reward."

  Upon hearing the mention of a prize, the overwhelming majority of students turned to Lucas with interest, as everyone wanted the academy's resources. This was especially true for those who were not nobles or had a low degree of nobility.

  Alexander, without a doubt, was the most interested in winning, not only because of the possible prize, but also because of the mission that was activated in the system as soon as Lucas made the "official announcement."

  Ding!

  [You have a new mission]

  Satisfied with the commotion he caused and with the students' enthusiasm to participate, Lucas began to prepare the tournament and pair up the fights.

  While waiting for the tournament organization, Alexander began to choose his next evolution. But while he was reading about the possible evolutions, the other students were already starting to divide following the "draw."

  "This tournament bracket is, at the very least, suspicious," thought Alexander. "I can't tell what's wrong with it, but Lucas's smile gives him away completely."

  As soon as everyone was drawn and the bracket was completed, one of the students opened a betting booth that speculated who would be the winner.

  Alexander observed the bets for some time and discovered how "The Betting Booth" operated: each person could bet as much as they wanted, as long as they could pay the minimum amount; the jackpot would be divided proportionally to the amount people bet on the winning guess.

  Lucas, who seemed not to care about the bets, probably couldn't be more satisfied with them, as his smile widened even more and made it clear that he wanted nothing more than to see the whole world in chaos.