[Reports are flooding in from all across the world. The leaked documents show that the A-Ranked break in Furudal… is evolving to an S-Rank—YAY LET'S DANCE!] The television screen flickered as a famous band's performance replaced the news channel. I snapped to the side and saw Odis shaking with the remote in his hands.

“Dude.“

Odis' hands trembled as he slowly touched his head. “D-did she… S-Ranked break?“

Jin Xuefeng carefully placed a hand over Odis' shoulders, but the horror in his eyes did not go away at all.

“My family lives near the Furudal barrier…”

“Calm down, it's evolving. It hasn't happened yet.“

Odis bit his lips at Jin's words and leaned back, nodding slightly.

{It's crazy to see him like this}

The system stole the words out of my heart.

On the second day of our break from Agriche Academy, shocking news spread through the world.

After 19 years since the last, an S-Ranked Break had been confirmed. The Furudal break in Suecia was one of the highest ranking breaks in the world, but for it to evolve all of a sudden.

Could it be related to the reason that we received the first break as fast as we did? Then, they were already aware of the evolution for a while now.

None of us were alive back then, but stories of the last S-Ranked break and the devastation it brought were not unknown to anyone.

It was the cataclysm that single-handedly shaved down the giants in the Arctic continent and left only a few dozen of them alive. It was a race-ending destruction.

Odis, still seemingly worried, hurriedly operated his watch. Right then, a cheesy anime song rang out as he received a call.

"My family!" Odis said. Jin and I watched him with anticipation as he picked up the call.

"Yup?"

"Yup..."

"Yup...!"

"Oi old hag, are you serious—I am truly, terribly apologetic for my words."

"Understood... yup. ALREADY!?"

Huh, a mother does have the strength to tame a beast. He's being pretty straight.

"Oh, ok, got it..."

Odis got off the call.

"So, that was my mom," he said. "I have to go back to Suicea."

"Solid plan." Jin Xuefeng added from the side, earning a quick chop from Odis.

"They want to move. We'll be picking up our shop and going further south to Gothenburg."

Furudal was a bit off the center of Suicea to the south, while Gothenburg was further down south. It was one of the largest ports in the Eurasian continent, so it should be pretty safe, I guess. A lot of people were likely to leave Gothenburg and flee to a different country too, but there would definitely be many more who couldn't or wouldn't.

{Shop, though?}

Right. Looking at Odis, it did fit his image, but, wasn't this Agriche Academy?

Make no mistakes, Agriche Academy was at the apex of the institutions called 'Academies.' In this world flooded with monsters where more just keep popping, the one place that nurtured the future leaders of the world was none other than Agriche. A comprehensive curriculum, resources that would leave even the biggest Awakener guilds drooling, and if all that wasn't enough, with Agriche's faculty consisting of the biggest authorities in their respective fields from all over the world, it became a place that was on par with multinational corporations and world organizations despite being only an academy.

It was a place that only the elite of the elite could enter. And even among them, the top 100 ranked students received a fully-paid scholarship in exchange for all the attention in the world. In my eyes, it wasn't that great a deal, but it did help the ones that couldn't afford such a top-notch education to come through their skills.

It was still disappointing, though, since it did not completely clear off the part where elites flooded the place and did not shrink the lack of opportunity for normal people. The tests were based on skills and experience, which were bound to be developed for people who could afford to do so. Latent talent did not get to shine as much as it could have in Agriche's environment despite the top 100 and the many other scholarships it offered as well.

Shop heirs getting into Agriche's esteemed Awakener course for the top 100, but that wasn't the case with us at all.

We were just the lowly students ranked in the 200s.

As if reading my thoughts, Odis suddenly smiled and covered his mouth like a rich lady.

"Hoho!" he said. "I'll let you know, Ralph! The Lobregat shop has a history of 4000 years! We have been great blacksmiths since even before mana came into this world! Heck, a hundred years ago, the earring that the Hero wore in his final battle against the Demon King was sculpted in our Lobregat family itself!"

Ok, that was unexpected.

How did such a family bring up a useless kid like this? Actually, is an earring even that big a deal?

"So..." Jin spoke up again, in a slightly pitying voice. "Why aren't you in the artifact or crafting courses? Engineering even?"

My hanfu-clad friend was karate-chopped again on the back of his neck as he fell on the exquisite couch.

"My brother is taking over that line of business... My talents are in this field anyway..."

{Do I smell an inferiority complex?}

Probably more of a 'don't care' situation.

{I guess. Though it's my first time hearing he had a brother}

"Anyway, so now you see, Ralph! I am a pretty big deal! Surprised right—?"

"I already knew?" I had researched him a long time back. It was the system that didn't know. "Anyway, when are you due?"

Odis looked at his watch and showed me a wry smile.

"About an hour," he said. "I'll have to dip on the resort life in the Red Crabs Dorms."

"Don't mind it," I smiled and crossed my legs. "We'll be here for the entire year. Take care of your family there."

"Yeah."

"Oh, and Odis," Jin interrupted again, still splayed out on the couch. "Keep us updated, don't do anything stupid if things get too hard."

An S-Ranked break after 19 years. None of us knew how bad it could get, but our friend was moving pretty close to it.

Odis laughed and stood up. "Don't worry, I am just going to help them move and come back. It's been 19 years, this world has grown much sturdier since then!"

Saying that, Odis left back to his room.

It was calming to see him acting cheerful.

"I hope nothing bad happens..." Jin said.

{Why is this idiot raising flags?!}

Sighing, I slapped the back of Jin's head and forced him to come along and help Odis with his luggage.

He left Agriche City rather peacefully.

A few hours after that, another call came our way.

"Hey, Sir Ralph. It seems I am being called back too. My family is worried about the happenings, our guild will be involved too, so they must know something."

"Right, don't worry about me, just take care of yourself."

"Yes. I'll let you know if I learn anything important. You stay prepared too."

Jin left that very day.

Once again, I slept in my empty room with the windows pulled wide open.

And by the time I woke up, most of Agriche was empty.