The NPC is aware

Much like any game, Summoner's Academy had a stat system for the combat portion of the game. However, unlike normal games, the stats were only divided into three categories. Aura, Magic, and Authority.

Aura is the stat used for physical stats, while Magic is the stat used for the efficiency of their spells. Lastly, Authority determines how powerful a creature they can summon.

Each stat is measured by stages. A normal person is considered a stage 0, while a beginner is stage 1. The gap between stages gets larger as they progress, with stage 5 being considered an elite, while stage 6 is a living calamity.

To ensure this world survives, they needed the protagonist to reach stage 6 or higher in every stat.

"This is going to be hard when we're not on the wheel," Irelia commented.

Michelle rubbed her forehead. "Tell me about it. We can't actually force her to grind."

"Maybe she'll get stronger on her own?" Irelia mentioned. "Without the other love targets around her, wouldn't she have a lot of free time to study and train?"

"You have a point, but a major plot of the story was the constant bullying to help her grow. Many of those scenarios came from being involved with the love targets."

"We could bully her, but I'm not comfortable doing that," Irelia suggested.

"We'll just need to help her in other ways," Michelle replied. "We could encourage her to go with us to the hidden dungeons."

"But those dungeons are hard," Irelia said in worry. "We barely beat those with all the love targets with us."

"That's only because we don't get access to Alexander Pendragon in the early stages of the game. He's a late-game character after all."

"Oh! But we could have him come with us this early."

"That's right. Most of his bad endings happen because of the other love targets being involved. If he's the only love target with the protagonist, we have some room to work with," Michelle explained.

"I'll try to get closer to the protagonist," Irelia stated.

"I'll try to find the dungeons," Michelle replied.

They shook hands.

------

"Cowards," Alexander crossed his arms as the crowd rushed out of the classroom.

"That wasn't very nice, lord Pendragon," Isabela commented from beside him.

Alexander raised an eyebrow. Alexander admires her bravery toward someone who just threatened the crown prince.

"Anyway, call me Alexander. Lord Pendragon is my father. I don't like my father," he said before teleporting away.

Alexander appeared in his dorm room. "Now then, I'll need to make plans for the first portal exploration."

Fairy Meadow was a sector where new summoners could get a taste of Carrion. All the creatures that could be found there weren't aggressive, but they would still retaliate if threatened.

Despite it being a training ground for beginners, Alexander had never been to Fairy Meadow since his family found it more appropriate to throw him into the Dragon's den for his first time entering Carrion.

To be fair, he repeatedly returned to Dragon's den.

Alexander opened his grimoire and cycled through the pages to look for the creatures he needed. The creatures there wouldn't be a threat to him, so Alexander just needed a mount and a creature with crowd control.

He also plans on leaving one slot of his party empty. He got some useful tricks from the invader he tortured that he wanted to test out in the field. He wasn't certain if it would work, but it was better to be certain. He had no use for such tricks, but there were many invaders that could potentially use it against him.

Alfred suddenly appeared behind him. "Is there a problem?" Alexander asked.

"I've confirmed that some unsavory individuals plan on intervening in the Carrion exercise," Alfred informed Alexander.

"Hired?"

"It does not seem so."

Alexander rubbed his chin in thought. It's true that many high-ranking nobles would be participating in this trip, but did they expect them not to be guarded? Alexander alone could take on an army as a 4th stage mage.

"Are they strong?"

"There are several 3rd stage aura users within their ranks," Alfred answered.

Judging by Alfred's answer, this group would be capable of taking on the guards. However, they would be no match for Alexander, let alone Nazaria.

"I'll assume they have something to keep her occupied."

------

Roland was in deep shit. All he ever wanted was to live a quiet life in his second life, but he just had to be transported to the same generation as the protagonist and her harem.

"I never should have played this damn game!" Roland cried into his pillow.

Summoner's Academy was tailored to a female audience, but due to its popularity and difficulty, it attracted the attention of a few male content creators.

Roland was one of them. He made a living by uploading videos of walkthroughs and guides for popular and difficult games. Summoner's Academy was his most recent and successful project, so everything important was still fresh in his mind.

The problem was that even though he knew many important details to give him an advantage, he wasn't strong enough to act on it. The character he possessed was Roland Verin, the second son of a Viscount.

Roland was a 2nd stage aura user, 1st stage mage, and no-stage summoner.

Absolutely trash.

Even the weak-ass love targets had all their stats around the 2nd stage at the start.

"At this rate, I'm going to be cannon fodder..." Roland fell to his knees in despair.

The thought of trying to get the relics popped into his head, but if he stole the relics meant for the protagonist, it could potentially result in her losing.

He couldn't risk that.

He could train to get stronger, but there was a limit to how much a mob character could grow in a few months. His only option was to get stronger as a summoner.

"Thank god I researched every possible lineup for each scenario," Roland muttered as he grabbed everything he needed and rushed toward the portal bay.

"I'll survive."

------

With the normal classes occupying the rest of the week, days flew by fairly quickly. In the first year, the classes were history, literature, noble etiquette, and arithmetic. On the last day of the week, students can learn about Aura or Magic. Both classes take place at different times, so the students may attend on the same day.

Isabela was one of the few students who attended both classes, while Alexander was in the smaller group that attended neither. With his day free, Alexander decided to visit his fiancee.

"Hello, Heather," Alexander materialized in her dorm room, surprising her.

Heather was a beautiful young woman with long and wavy black hair. She had a lean and athletic figure that focused on speed and agility.

"What are you doing here?" Heather snapped toward him with a dagger in hand.

"Is there something wrong with visiting my fiancee?" Alexander asked as he looked around the room.

"How did you mark my room? You shouldn't be able to teleport to places you haven't marked," Heather questioned.

"Ignore the minor details dear. How have you been?"

"We're not that close to having a casual chat like this," Heather remained on guard against Alexander.

"You're going to be baring my child at some point. Might as well lose the attitude," Alexander commented. "I haven't seen you attending classes."

"We're in different classes. We have different schedules," Heather stated. "Not everyone got into the A class."

"If that pathetic crown prince did, I saw no reason you didn't."

Alexander noticed Heather's eyes twitch. "Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?"

"Take it how you want," Alexander shrugged. "I'm more interested in learning what you're up to recently."

"That's none of your concern," Heather glared at him.

"How could you say that to your future husband?"

Heather visibly grew more irate as the conversion continued. But she had no choice but to tolerate Alexander since their engagement benefitted her family. If they break their engagement, only her family will suffer losses.

Alexander seemed to have lost interest in the conversation. "Anyways, if you're not up to anything interesting, I'll leave you be."

Alexander vanished into smoke and reappeared in front of the portal bay, surprising a few civilians passing by. When he appeared, a black metallic mask covered his face. With his new look, Alexander approached the counter and got the attention of the receptionist.

"How may I help you today?"

"Snowpoint Mountain," that was the only thing Alexander said before showing his grimoire.

"Understood," the receptionist nodded. "Please proceed to portal bay 21."

Alexander nodded and headed to his assigned portal bay. When he found it, he stepped onto the platform and waited as a magic circle appeared. The ground began to disappear as a portal materialized beneath his feet. A second later, Alexander found himself in a completely different location.

His trip today was related to the most vital piece of information he had acquired from the invader he had interrogated. Within the world Carrion, special variations of the creatures existed, The term used by the invader was "Shinies" but the official term was "Primal variants". They're stronger variations of the species that lived in Carrion and were hidden in restricted areas.

"Come out," Alexander tossed a black and purple marble into the air.

The marble glowed and grew, taking the form of a black wyvern with a purple line of fur tracing down its spine. With a flick of his wrist, a saddle and harness materialized on the wyvern.

"Let's go," Alexander said after he got on.

With their minds linked, Alexander didn't need to steer the wyvern. They began searching for the location of the Primal variant while Alexander used his fire magic to shield them from the snow.

After about an hour of flying around in circles in the area, they spotted the landmark for the location. The wyvern landed in front of the ruins of a lighthouse. Although its existence here confused Alexander, he lacked interest in investigating.

"South of the lighthouse," Alexander muttered as he took out a compass. "Then look for smooth stone."

Alexander used his fire magic to melt the surrounding snow. Once the steam cleared, he found a part of the rock formation that looked different. The surface was smooth, resembling a marble wall. Alexander was about to use magic to blow it up, but runic symbols began appearing on the wall before the wall vanished, revealing a passage.

"Neat."