Astrea Academy, located in the capital city of Astrea on the continent of Cearith.
Arriving at Astrea Academy, Brandon looked at the taxi driver in horror.
He realized he had no money.
"Sir, that'll be ten copper coins."
"I–"
Cold sweat beaded out from Brandon's forehead.
He had just arrived into this world, of course he would have no money.
He didn't know what the currency looked like, only remembering the vague details from the novel.
It's not like the novel would go into detail about the currency in the first place.
"Haa..."
After breathing out a sigh, Brandon shifted his gaze towards the window–where the Academy was, in plain sight.
The Academy stood tall and elegant, it was nothing like Brandon had ever seen in his previous world.
He could see students already bustling about, making their way towards the campus.
Some of them were dropped off from cars. Brandon could tell they were in the higher class of society.
"Sir, are you going to pay or not?"
Brandon shifted his gaze from the Academy back to the driver, and said,
"Can I put it in my tab? It's Raven Blackheart by the way."
Brandon could only bluff his way through this, there was nothing else he could do, he didn't want to become a criminal.
And Raven Blackheart...
Was the name of the protagonist.
It was the only name he could remember at the time.
Click-
Instantly, Brandon unlocked the door, and tried to get out as fast as he could.
"Hey! Sir!"
Brandon could hear the taxi driver screaming in panic behind him.
"Remember, it's Raven Blackheart, okay?"
'Sir!"
Brandon paid no mind to the taxi driver, as he made a run for it, heading towards the Academy's entrance.
***
Brandon stood in front of the door of the classroom.
'A201'
He was informed that this was the lecture room for his first class, when he beckoned to check at the students' booth for his schedule.
It seemed that A stood for Astrea, as 201 meant 2nd floor 1st room.
"Haa..."
Brandon let out an exasperated sigh.
He wasn't a bad student in his previous life or anything, just average grades.
But he realized that–since this was a different world, it meant they had a different curriculum.
And since Brandon had only recently arrived in this world–particularly–3 hours ago, then he'd be way behind his peers.
But that wasn't the only problem he had...
He was late...
To be precise, he was 20 minutes late.
After standing in the door frame for what seemed to be a few minutes, Brandon finally entered the lecture room.
As he entered the lecture room, Brandon felt several glances his way.
No, everyone's eyes were fixed on him.
Shifting his gaze towards the Professor, Brandon was already familiar with who she was.
Vanessa Grace, with hazel-brown hair and peach eyes.
She had the kind of curves that would instantly bewitch any man, and Brandon would be no exception to this.
Except that his mind was occupied with how he could get out of the situation.
Not only that, but...
'If she's the Professor for this class, then that means...'
Brandon shifted his gaze from Vanessa, to a peculiar student seated on the front row.
Jet-black hair and ocean-blue eyes, a well built frame, with facial features that were considerably handsome.
It was none other than the protagonist of the story, Raven Blackheart.
Snapping him out of his thoughts, Vanessa suddenly spoke up,
"Are you in the wrong classroom?"
Brandon fixed his gaze on her, there was no need to feel embarrassed.
For Brandon, it all felt like a roleplay.
"No, Miss Vanessa, I was informed that this would be my first class."
Vanessa tilted her head in response.
"Oh? So you already know who I am?"
It was then when Brandon realized that he had just blurted out her name, even though he wasn't there for the homeroom.
Now, Brandon was nervous, unsure of how to get his way out of this.
Due to rushing towards the lecture room, it didn't occur to him that he wasn't supposed to know who Vanessa was.
But if there's one thing Brandon was good at, it was bluffing.
After gathering his thoughts together, Brandon composed himself, standing tall and confident.
"Yes, Miss, I've read about you in the articles, and I have to say I'm one of your fans."
It was true.
Due to her beauty, Vanessa was a popular mage that would often appear in magazines.
But this was when Brandon made a blunder, the kind of magazines Vanessa would show up in, were none other than...
Model magazines.
'Oh fuck, did I just let the entire class know that I'm into those kind of things?'
Brandon felt a cold gaze from Vanessa as she narrowed her eyes.
"Well, thank you. But I'm not sure how to feel about that when a 16-year-old boy is the one telling me."
But Brandon composed himself once again, he had to see to this until the end.
"As your fan, I couldn't help but admire you. Actually, I'm really nervous as I'm standing before your presence."
A natural actor.
He could hear laughs and murmurs from several students, who were seated in their place.
"Sigh, just take your seat."
Brandon flashed a smile and nodded.
Brandon felt all the gazes flashing towards him as he headed towards an empty seat.
He switched his gaze towards the student that sat beside the empty seat.
With jet-black hair, and ocean-blue eyes, it was Raven Blackheart.
Brandon flashed him a smile and said,
"Looks like we're neighbors now, I'll be in your care."
Brandon had closely followed Raven's journey, when he used to read Path to Ascension.
So he already knew what kind of personality Raven had.
If he were to sum it up, Raven was your typical goody-two-shoes protagonist.
Someone that would easily be taken advantage of.
'He's way too kind for his own good.'
Raven returned his smile, with a gesture of his own, and said,
"Likewise, nice to meet you, my name is Raven Blackheart."
Brandon settled in, taking his seat, and responded,
"Nice to meet you as well, I'm Brandon Locke."
Raven nodded with a smile, and switched his gaze to Vanessa–who was about to continue the lecture.
Brandon turned his head and took a quick glance at the students seated behind him.
As he scanned each student, one of them locked eyes with him.
A female student, with long pitch-black hair, dark crimson eyes, clear jade skin.
Her facial features were beautiful, perfectly symmetrical, with soft-succulent lips.
When Brandon saw her, he already knew who this was.
Rachel Asami, one of the main cast members.
'P-Pretty...'
Brandon was immediately attracted to Rachel.
He couldn't help it, he was a teenage boy with zero romantic experience.
Just getting the attention of a beautiful girl like Rachel was enough to make him falter.
Brandon continued to scan the other students, trying to find more members of the main cast.
And his goal was soon realized, as he locked eyes with another student–albeit, a male student.
Reinhard Van, with deep-red hair, and ink-black eyes, another seemingly handsome student.
'He's supposed to be Raven's best friend. But for now, the two seem to not be acquainted yet.'
When Brandon finally gathered his thoughts together, he realized where he currently was in the story.
'Chapter 20.'
The last chapter he opened, right before he met his fate on the bus.