[Are you sure about this? Why don't we take a moment to think huh, it's a big decision after all.]

'Nah I'm good. Let's just beat him up, so he or anyone else doesn't get any funny ideas.' Rio said to the system.

[Apollo. Apollo is there, you sure you want to create trouble with him now. He still got a lot of hole cards, you know. He might even further Leon's progress and that might even trigger some other events.]

'This guy's already one major rank higher than he was supposed to be. Let's just show him the difference between me and him, so next time I do something, he doesn't put his nose into my business.'

[What about Lisa? Don't you think that's gonna trigger anything. What if she sides with Leon instead.] System tried to warn its host again. It's good that you can play the enemy from the shadows, why do you need to show up at the door and then beat him face to face.

Hearing the system's remarks Rio thought for a second but then shook his head and replied 'If she sides with him, then she dies. There's no need to wait for another betrayal.'

[If you just want to beat him, let your Shiva persona beat him. Don't act like a villain with Rio's personality. Not without any reason at least.]

'But.. Fine, I don't think he can't give me a reason. It's the nature of the protagonist to create trouble with the villain.' Rio sighed and agreed, but only about the no reason part, he definitely wanted to give a beating to the protagonist.

His mind even thought up a few scenarios where if Leon doesn't do anything, he could pull something off, that can create some friction between them and give him a 'valid reason' to beat him.

'Ayy system isn't there some hidden quest for me beating the protagonist. It's like the basic setting of a villain system, right?' Rio thought and asked, other systems are telling their hosts to beat up protagonists and insult them everywhere to steal their luck. And his system is here advising against it. [...]

'So there really is.' Rio said in an excited tone after seeing the system getting silent over his question. Now he was even more eager to fight Leon, his last quest reward was just some dumb points, he already has enough. He wanted to see if beating up the protagonist can get him something extra special.

[Host, why don't we take a moment and both take a step back to relax. You already have so many points right, why do you need some more pocket change.] System said, while sweating a little. magic

How could it say that it doesn't care about Leon at all, and Apollo is just a bitch. Even its host might be able to hold him off, if he used all those points of his in the right way.

It's just, it knew the habits of this host and knew if he got a taste of those rewards, would Leon ever even get out of infirmary in the entire plot.

It can even picture Leon just taking a step out and getting beaten up again. If that happens, how can the system enjoy drama and see other plotlines? The plot is already too different and messed up, what would happen next?

'Okay, then it's decided, we look for a reason and then we beat him up.' Rio gave the final verdict and muted the system before it could say anything else..

Rio started walking towards the stage, where a large magic circle was drawn and was shining in a bright light. Everyone started moving forward too. This was a teleportation circle, which would send everyone to the facility where virtual reality capsules were fixed. Since the academy was too big, if one were to walk from one facility to another, it would simply take at least 15-30 minutes considering the distance. Now since the whole of first year class was about to move, the duration of that time would obviously be higher. So as not to waste time, the academy had teleportation arrays placed between each facility.

A few professors were standing near the stage, sending a group of 100 students forward every time. That was a limit to this circle, as it could only teleport one hundred people at one time. lights

Huge chunks of mana were getting used for this every time, but even that amount wasn't even considered a drop in the vast ocean of mana the academy grounds had.

The floating islands were all pieces of magical lands from an unknown world. It had what one could call a spiritual vein from the cultivation world stories, it could store huge amounts of mana from its surroundings every moment and store it inside to nourish the island.

So whatever mana they wasted by using these teleportation circles, this all would probably be regenerated in a matter of a few minutes again.

Don't ask why no one from the world tried to attack and loot these 'spiritual veins' or take control of these islands - that was the reason why the World Association was formed. At first these islands were taken by a group of separate families and there would always be wars to own them amongst everyone, but over time, the owners of the islands came together and formed an association to show a combined front against everyone else.

That's how the World Association was first formed, by a bunch of rich folks to capture these islands. But when the rest of the world still didn't give up and would keep fighting them from time to time, they knew no one would be able to share this pie alone. So they decided to turn their residence into a sect, where everyone from everywhere could come and train.

Fast forward by a few centuries, the sects had now become academies and the collective front of owners, became the current World Association. This rich environment and mana density is also why the five academies are holding their place at the top.

Rio walked the stage and stood over it, when the professor finished the preparations, he channeled his mana into the various flags or key points, and the array lit up in a blinding light forcing everyone to close their eyes.

When they opened their eyes again, they were standing in a new place, a large open hall where a few teleportation circles were lighting up every second.

Everyone looked around and noticed the new place and environment which was giving them the vibe of a sci -fi world. Rio too curiously looked around. Things had changed a lot since the last time he visited here. When he first came here two years ago, he couldn't help but stare at everything like it was a dream. After all, everything here was similar to what was shown only in movies or fictions. The technology of earth was far behind what was possible in this facility.

The hall was adorned with neon lights that bathed the surroundings in a vibrant, otherworldly glow, that exuded a futuristic, sci-fi ambiance. Square metallic platforms floated gracefully through the air, carrying a variety of objects, from advanced machinery to holographic displays. Metallic drones whizzed overhead, zipping through the space in a precise manner.

If you think about how this is possible, when the outside world didn't even have phones till a few years ago, how did this facility manage to advance to this level in just the time skip of novel?

You don't have to think much, because this facility wasn't even a part of Arcadia, this was an Open Dungeon.

Open Dungeons were dungeons which once connected to Arcadia forever stayed there. They had no core to destroy nor any missions to fulfill, in order to clear them. They were simply chunks of lands attached to Arcadia.

People and technology which was pulled here along with this land would forever stay inside these dungeons and couldn't be taken out. So no matter how advanced this open dungeon became, none of it could be useful in the outside world. Except the knowledge, which could help Arcadia grow further too.

This dungeon belonged to a future dystopian world, and after merging with Arcadia it had always been under the control of the World Association. The world association pumped many resources into their research and helped them with everything. When the people of this dungeon world grew used to Arcadia and started learning about mana, their existing technology took another leap and became this hifi.

What did the world association get in return if they couldn't take anything out, well they got knowledge, knowledge about all this machinery and stuff which was made possible in other worlds. Now their own researchers just have to learn how to create all this stuff in Arcadia.

Plus if they can't take anything outside, doesn't mean they can't send anyone in right. Like right now, the virtual reality capsules of this world had been much more advanced than most of the illusion magics and similar technologies of Arcadia. That's why the academy can send their students here to train and learn everything.

Rio was looking around thinking about the past and enjoying the scenery of the new tech, when someone just put their hand over his shoulder and pulled him in. "So do you still remember to come back here huh. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you died again."