ã€ŠChildren of The Sky: Heartcoreã€‹


 The Story Unfolds

    The middle-aged man kept on staring at the smoke-white hair boy with a scarlet fox sleeping across his shoulder sitting on the opposite side. The boy wore a stylish white and blue shirt under his grey jacket, a pair of dark brown shorts and orange slippers. The boy couldn¡¯t take any more of the man¡¯s gaze, he glared back at him, annoyed. He diverted his attention towards the passing scenery of Astral, the capital of Speir, the floating world. He adjusted the red-coloured pendant with a heart-shaped symbol down his neck to make it more comfortable. The monorail took a brisk turn to the right, causing the boy to avert his eyes away from the sunlight piercing through the window.

    ¡°Yggdrasil Academy,¡± an automated voice announced as the monorail arrives at the destination of all the freshmen on board. The boy swiftly alighted the monorail and sauntered towards the colossal gate. Anyone would have marvelled at the ancient wall gate constructed from the strongest material in the realm and forged by the most skilful masters. It has endured the test of time for it had not failed its purpose for several millennia as had the gigantic, albeit dormant, golem knights at each side of the gate. Yet, the boy wasn¡¯t amazed by the legendary creation. Unlike the freshmen that kept taking pictures of the south gate, he just walked into the school grounds.

    He wasn¡¯t planning to get sunburned, so he strolled under the shades of the large trees planted on the right side of the road. There was an express lane that a large proportion of the student body used to reach the school in a short time, but he had plenty of it, and so enjoyed the view.

    "Hinoko, wake up. We¡¯re here.¡± The fox slowly woke up. He pointed his finger to his left, gesturing at the large grassy field. She let out a whispering cry to express her excitement within only their earshot. They soon turned their sight to the left. It was an open aquarium. He spotted a few people playing with the aquarium''s animals on the levitating tiles. The fox shrank her body even further before she rose to the crown of his head. He didn¡¯t find a fox resting atop of him weird, therefore, he just adjusted the long hair messed up by her movement to cover his left eye more properly.

    At times he doubted the words of those who came back from visiting the academy, thinking they were exaggerating the truth. He was wrong. If he didn¡¯t know any better, he would¡¯ve thought he was walking into a royal palace. The entrance, in concert with the exquisite design and magic carving, denoted that Yggdrasil had been an influential institute for scholars and students alike since forever ago. Ambling past the classrooms down the entrance, the fox raised her head up to take a peek at the ceiling. The hallways are of alchemical wonder. Anyone looking up from below a floor could see through every hallway directly upwards except the top ceiling as if the floors didn¡¯t exist. Anything above the hallway would become invisible, but those looking downwards would only see their reflection on the marble floor. The classrooms were an exception thus all of them could be observed from the ground floor. He strode through a short corridor between two classrooms, then another horizontal hallway, another corridor, another hallway and finally arrived in front of the cylindrical auditorium.

    The opening ceremony was only a few minutes away, hence there weren¡¯t many newcomers like him entering the doorway concurrently. He followed those in front of him into the door below the high staircases to the left, a little further from the auditorium entrance. The elevators in the narrow corridor hardly have spaces for five persons, but the place wasn¡¯t crowded at all. When it¡¯s his turn, he blinked only once and the elevator already made it to the fifth floor. He still had to go round to the other side as all the nearer seats have been taken. He sat in the last row with no one beside him, impatiently awaiting the ceremony to start.

    ¡°Welcome to Yggdrasil Academy. My name is Ann Miller, the vice principal. Without further ado, the opening ceremony shall now begin.¡± The lights went out and a hologram of the exact replica of the vice principal along with other important looking people standing in front of a tree was presented at the center of the floor he is in. Ann, the elegant woman in her thirties, commenced her speech in a modulated voice, which the boy found it boring and completely ignored the ceremony entirely. He pushed his index finger and his middle finger to each other to activate his Circulum. A screen appeared in front of him originating at the ring on his middle finger. He tapped the book app on the screen to read the chapter where he left off.

    ¡°.... And that concludes today¡¯s opening ceremony.¡± A round of applause was heard. He switched off the device immediately, preparing to leave. ¡°Please remain in your seats. There is still one more thing I have yet to announce. The daily function of the Academy heavily relies on the Circulum. Hence, for those who do not possess one, the academy will grant them their personal Circulum. I would strongly advise not to lose sight of it as you will be punished severely if you do. For those who currently possess a personal Circulum, please place your hand which the Circulum resides on the desk in front of you; for those who don¡¯t, they shall receive one from the Academy.¡± He did as she instructed, laying down his left hand on the previously-not-present desk.

    ¡°Please stay calm during the installation process,¡± Tiny robotic arms jutted from the desk performing rapid, intricate procedure on the ring, ¡°The process integrates a unique chip into the Circulum. It allows students to access various ¡®services¡¯ within the school ground. It also includes a guide to ensure students can understand the new functions incorporated into their Circulum¡¯s system. Last but not least, students must NEVER let an outsider obtain their Circulums. They will be expelled for failing to comply. That is all.¡± The procedure was completed just as the vice-principal dismissed the students.

    He traced his way back to the station, although it took an extra hour to get into the monorail when everyone was doing the same thing simultaneously. Not only that, it was so crowded he nearly couldn¡¯t exit when it arrived at his destination some five minutes later. He now stood before his dorm, or rather a really high, fancy-looking hotel. The fox crawled down to his shoulder and rest on it again. He walked past the sensor glass door and a busy scene welcomed his arrival. The lobby wasn¡¯t grand, but it has some class. People were standing around talking, or the luckier ones get to sit down on the comfy sofas and chatting with their friends.

    ¡°Hey, listen. I managed to train a ton of bugs I caught during the holidays and I have the perfect plan to use them. I¡¯ll tell you all about it later.¡±

    ¡°Dude, you got a girlfriend?! That¡¯s great! You finally found a way to escape the friendzone! As a reward, I¡¯ll let you have some fun with my latest mechanical wonder~~No spoilers, just wait and see.¡±

    ¡°Ya, I totally watched that new show! The main character is so awesome! I mean, he can literary one kick any enemy in his path!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I fixed the 1AD18U6 model drone we looted. We can take it for a spin whenever you want.¡±

    ¡°Hehehe, tonight I¡¯m gonna use my shadow Ingenium to do some stuff. No, not perverted stuff!¡±

    ¡°Seriously, what is wrong with the haters keep hating fandoms? Just because a community likes a particular thing while you don¡¯t doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t have some fun with it. Urgh, I¡¯m too tired to argue with you anymore.¡±

    That was some conversations he heard while heading towards the furthest elevator. Besides the elevator were two large information counters with four or five staff in each, answering the non-stop questions of the new students. Along with the others, he waited for the elevator to descend to the ground floor. The elevator was larger than any elevator he saw before, it could fit around thirty people and still left with extra spaces. He stood at the side of the elevator to avoid as much contact as possible. The button of the floor he was going has been pushed by other first years, giving him a chance to memorize the faces he would be seeing the whole year.

    There are multiple floors for each year¡¯s students. He managed to get the lowest floor, hence it hadn¡¯t been five seconds before stepping out of the elevator. He glanced at the number of the room just left to the elevator, then the next before turning to the other direction. After walking past four rooms to the right of the elevator, he halted in front of the fifth. A few sealed boxes of his belongings were laying on the ground beside the door. He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the recognition pad next to the door. He saw a brown-haired boy similar to his age wearily leaning against a stack of boxes identical to the ones outside, perhaps from the fatigue of carrying those boxes inside by himself as he entered the room. Despite the brunette was facing the door, he was surprised by the stranger¡¯s presence and immediately straighten his body. He shyly stretched out his hand and introduced himself (though he is curious about the fox on the expressionless boy¡¯s shoulder).

    ¡°Hi. Err.. My name is Elliot, but you can call me Eli. Nice to meet you!¡± He regretted saying that instantly because his new roommate didn¡¯t say a word, just coldly examining him. The brunette¡¯s lavender purple eyes, his auburn bang that reaches just below his eyes, the sweet yet slightly frightened smile coupled with the red scarf round his neck gave the impression of a timid and adorable animal. The birch sweater, pristine noir jacket and the stylish dark blue jeans on his lean body denoted he came from an upper-class family.

    ¡°My name¡¯s Reynard. Call me Rey,¡± He then pointed the fox, already landed on the ground, ¡°This is my familiar, Hinoko. She¡¯s not a summon, so she¡¯ll be living in this room together with us. You wouldn¡¯t mind, would you?¡± While expanding her body to her original size (a little larger than average pup), she strutted towards Eli. Eli, in response, crouched down to stare at her. When she was close enough, Eli attempted to pet her. To Rey¡¯s big surprise, Hinoko let Eli pet her head without any resistance. An innocent smile appeared on Eli¡¯s face like a child went to a zoo and caress a fox for the first time. However, it was but for a moment. She escaped from his hand, scampered through the room and sprung up to the desk below the window opposite to the entrance.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. She¡¯s cute.¡± He answered whilst standing up.

    ¡°She never casually let strangers pet her unless she trusts them. I apologize for my attitude before. I hope we can get along well, Eli.¡± He offered his hand to Eli.

    ¡°Me too, Rey.¡± He grabbed and shook Rey¡¯s hand. This handshake marked the beginning of their friendship. Rey released his grip before heading towards the bunk bed at the front right corner.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the top.¡± He removed his jacket and threw it on the upper bed. Eli did the same, plus the scarf and at the lower bed, silently agreeing to Rey¡¯s decision. He couldn¡¯t decide which bed to sleep in anyway.

    Rey strode towards the door, exited the room, used the dated levitating spell on the boxes, transported them into the room and asked, ¡°You got a seal ring on your left hand, you¡¯re not a human are you?¡± Eli¡¯s heart went cold. He didn¡¯t expect Rey to ask that question this fast.

    ¡°.... No. I¡¯m not.¡± He stifled his anxiety; his mind racing to find a perfect excuse for the next inevitable question. He stood stiffly facing the bed, closed his eyes and prayed for the best to come.

    ¡°Make me a list of the things I shouldn¡¯t do while you¡¯re around and the items you can¡¯t get close to. I¡¯d like to save myself from as much trouble as I could¡±

    ¡­Hmm? Rey didn¡¯t ask about what his race is? Eli opened his eyes and turned to his back. He saw Rey settled down the boxes in front of the second receptacle, which was left to the desk Hinoko is currently sitting on because he already reserved the first one (by his boxes).

    ¡°Remember to hand it to me before the night rolls by.¡± Eli¡¯s tears were on the verge to escape his eyes. This was the first time anyone didn¡¯t do--asking what is his race. He was so scared he would lose a friend again.

    ¡°The ring is pretty powerful. I¡¯m basically no different from a normal human when I¡¯m wearing it.¡± Although Rey might never know, he will always be grateful for Rey¡¯s incuriosity.

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡± He was oblivious to all the drama Eli was having behind him.

    <hr>

    For the next hour or so, they unloaded all their personal things from the boxes into their respective receptacle. Both of them didn¡¯t bring much stuff as the dorm has already prepared most of the items they need to go on their daily lives. From the top view of the room, the entrance is located at the bottom left and the small square that covers the area directly in front of the door allows them to place their shoes. After the small square, two receptacles lies straight in line against the left wall. Right to the further receptacle is the window and Rey¡¯s desk below it. The bunk bed sits on the top right corner of the room, below it is the fox¡¯s new home. In the middle of the room, there is one large sofa and an adjustable table; a holographic projector on the ceiling in front of the adjustable table to watch movies or play games. Not to forget wind magic circle that controls the temperature (plus wind) of the room and light magic circle which control the brightness of the room. Their switch is beside Eli¡¯s table, against the bottom wall and to the right of the entrance. More to the right bottom corner is a fridge, at the side of it is a door leading to the smaller, partitioned room.

    Past the door is a small kitchenette, equipped with basic tableware, a tiny stove, a few kitchen tools, a water dispenser, a beverage maker, a dish rack, a microwave and a sink. The dorm provides meals, thus the kitchenette does not serve a great purpose to hungry students save for a few special occasions. In front of the kitchenette is the door connected to the washroom. Once enter the door, a basin can be seen attached to the left wall while the right has a door to the toilet; directly to the front is the bathroom.

    ¡°Ha~ Finally done. I¡¯ll go take a shower now. Do you wanna join me for dinner later? I heard that the buffet is really nice~¡± Eli placed the empty boxes beside the door and asked.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Rey was almost finished setting up Hinoko¡¯s living space along with her things.

    Half an hour later, the three of them, after a refreshing bath, are now standing in front of the expansive cafeteria bustling with people. Teenagers of various races can be seen eating and chattering. Both of them take turns to grab their dinner once Rey spotted an unoccupied table for two. Eli went first. Rey stole a glance at his plate and glad that he wasn¡¯t a seafood lover. When it¡¯s Rey¡¯s turn, Eli was astonished by the amount of food stacking up on the larger plate. It turns out half of those was meant for the fox, which she gobbled down all of it less than ten minutes. Eli assumed only he and Rey can saw Hinoko given nobody batted an eye to the fox eating on their cramped table. However, when some older students walked by their table, a few questions were fired. Rey replied with words incomprehensible for Eli. He couldn¡¯t quite follow what they are saying even though he understood the language. He managed to grasp a few keywords which his mind interpreted it to ¡°the older students can perceive Hinoko because they have training in Source detection.¡±

    When they returned to their room bellies full, the sky, as of now, has been painted in darkness. Rey immediately jumped up to his bed using the same levitating spell with the fox on his shoulder. He sat against the wall and resumed to read his book. As for Eli, he did a few weird exercises before brushing his teeth and changed into his pajamas. He pressed a button on the black, rectangular machine on his desk to activate it. A large holographic screen and keyboard were projected from a hole on the machine instantaneously. He slid the cover on top of the machine open, revealing a solid-like black coloured liquid. He touched the substance with his index and middle finger then proceed to wipe that substance on his mouth and both his ears. Next, he dipped all his fingers on that black substance, which will then allow him to physically touch the opaque holographic screen and keyboard while his right hand also functions as the mouse. He sat down, ¡®clicked¡¯ the bookmarked website WeTube and then ¡®clicked¡¯ on the first video with a humorous title he saw. The audio of the video can only be heard by him; when he laughs, no sound was heard by Rey.

    Three hours later, Eli decided to call it a day. He switched off the black machine and ambled towards the kitchenette. Rey, dressed up in pajamas, was leaving the washroom while he cleaned his hands in the sink, along with Hinoko on his shoulder. Hinoko leapt into her pet basket and went to sleep when Rey walked back to his bed.

    ¡°Erm...I¡¯m going switch off the light right now if you don¡¯t mind,¡± Eli asked because Rey was still reading his virtue book after returning to his bed. Rey agreed verbally. Although the magic circle was switched off, there was still light in the room originating the screen in front of Rey. He pressed a few buttons on the screen and it disappears. He then rubbed his middle finger over his closed eyes. This way, it allows Rey to read his book without disturbing Eli. Once he finished the book, he did the same eye-rubbing as before and powered off the Circulum. He lied down, his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.

    <hr>

    The absence of a sensation on his right hand was the first sign. He raised his hands and, sure enough, his Circulum is missing. He calmed himself and went down the bed. The sunlight has partially entered the room and Eli¡¯s hands were in plain sight. The seal ring¡¯s disappearance on his hand, observed by Rey, was the second indication that something ominous was afoot. He strode to Eli¡¯s desk and opened the top drawer. He remembered last night, before switching off the light, Eli left his Circulum into that very drawer where it still lies. He bolted to the door, hold Eli¡¯s Circulum with the tip of his fingers, aimed it at the recognition pad, opened the door, threw it back onto its owner¡¯s desk and stepped out the room. The first glance he took to the right revealed a suspicious person wearing a hoodie grabbing something from the potted plant placed at the corner.

    Just as the person stood up and shove unknown items into his/her pocket, he/she turned his/her¡¯s head at Rey¡¯s direction. The suspicious person promptly fled towards his/her back. Rey chased after the hooded person in barefoot, but when he made it to the corner, the person has disappeared and the elevator down the hallway has gone up. He sprinted to the elevator to check which floor that person went. However, he was too late. Frustrated for not being fast enough, he stomped back to the potted plant in hope of obtaining any clue left behind by the hooded person. Except for a bug leg he picked up and held it in his hand, nothing notable was seen. He was halfway back to his room when Eli busted out from it in a paranoid manner. Rey rushed to the boy, who was on the verge of tearing out and pushed him into the room. The door automatically slid back and Eli began to speak frantically.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Rey! The ring, my, my seal ring! It¡¯s gone! It¡¯s gone! What am I going to do??¡± Eli broke down and went full panic mode.

    ¡°Calm down. How long can you still maintain your body in human form?¡± Rey grabbed him on his right shoulder and look directly into his eyes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t-I don¡¯t know! I¡¯ve never taken it off since the day I first wore it! Wha-wha--¡±

    ¡°Stay in the bathroom. I¡¯ll find your ring. Hinoko will guard the room, call her when you need something. Take a deep breath, and go to the bathroom.¡± At this point, a few of Eli¡¯s tears has made it out of his eyes. He sniffed a few times before walking to the bathroom. Hinoko was awakened when Rey chased the mysterious individual. She heard Rey¡¯s order and began to patrol around the room. Rey quickly changed into his casual clothes, he couldn¡¯t afford to waste any more time while time might be running out.

    He first thoroughly searched the entire room while asking Hinoko to sense whether if magic or Ingenium was used in the room. The scarlet fox told him what she found and Rey managed to find a piece of clue with his keen sight. There was a bug¡¯s leg lying on the ground, a little further from the bed. It was the same bug leg he saw in the potted plant. Rey took the chance to ask Eli if he remembered anything odd happened during sleep while on his way to grab some toilet paper and wrapped both the bug legs in it. Eli vaguely recollected him hearing a buzzing sound while sleeping. He thought it to be a bug¡¯s and found it annoying, therefore he waved his hand a few times to get rid of it. After that, the sound vanished and he went back into deep slumber. He was barely conscious at the time and that was all he could recall. Nevertheless, Rey now has some lead to follow.

    1) Whoever that stole his Circulum and Eli¡¯s seal ring had to have the knowledge of the time when the both of them fell asleep. He or she must have surveillance over the two of them without the three of them noticing.

    2) They weren¡¯t the only one that got their rings stolen. Before Eli jumped out from the room and attracting his attention, he saw students like himself standing in front of the elevator, discussing something in a nervous manner, indicating others have fell victim too. He wasn¡¯t positive if students of other ages were involved as well.

    3) Freshman like himself couldn¡¯t have done it. This wasn¡¯t as obvious as it seems. This ¡°hotel dorm¡± is only one of the eight in this city. Every dorm, each taking a position of the Cardinal Direction, represents the eight worlds connected to Speir, the world located at the centre, in the realm of Yggdrasil. In order to encourage students in Speir to interact with students came from the other eight worlds, although three of them are completely cut off from the wider realm. The Academy, indirectly controlling the dorms, forced the students, native or not, to move from dorm to dorm yearly in clockwise. Thus, taking the different styles of each dorm into account, no one can perfectly know the layout of a dorm as it does not allow students to enter the building until a new year starts. But, students from other dorm can visit their friends or siblings in another dorm, leaving the possibility of only older students can perform this feat.

    3) It is highly doubtful the perpetrator himself or herself committed the stealing. Not only will this risk being caught red-handed, it will vastly reduce the efficiency of the thief to steal every Circulum, according to Rey¡¯s assumption. He heard of these incidents happening, although he didn¡¯t put much thought into it as he was confident in his and Hinoko¡¯s ability. He was proven wrong harshly. He didn¡¯t expect something like this happening on the first night, neither do the others. Older students must¡¯ve had preparation for these kinds of situation hence the thief might not go after them. Then what method was used to detect the rings¡¯ location and took it? The only thing that can be certain is whatever the method used, it cannot differentiate the Circulum from a seal ring, which both have similar sizes.

    4) The motive behind this is nothing short of simplicity. The Circulum might have excellent defence mechanism which will lock out anyone trying to hack it. However, if someone is skillful enough, he or she can wipe the system clean and resell it to others. If not, the internal systems and the materials used to build it can be sold with a decent amount of money. This, however, raises more questions. Where does the thief hide the stolen rings? Is it still in the building or has it already been sold to someone else? Though it is not of the utmost importance as long as he catches the perpetrator. He can make him or her bear the responsibility of returning the rings to their rightful owner. Besides, there are hundreds of places the thief can hide his or her stash at in this building, the rings might have been smuggled out before anyone can find it.

    5) The suspicious person he saw earlier is definitely the thief or is that they have some relationship because the bug leg in the room and in the potted plant is identical.

    With those five clues on hand, Rey trod into the hallway once more, where his attention was drawn by a large commotion coming from the elevator on the right. A large group of freshman was surrounding two individuals in front of the elevator. They seemed to be older students and are arguing. Rey approached the crowd and this is what he heard,

    ¡°Were you the one that stole the first year¡¯s Circulum, Alan?!¡± The words came out from the mouth of a long haired girl. Her lithe body was slightly shaking in anger.

    ¡°Is this how you greet an old friend, Ada? Accusing me of a crime I didn¡¯t commit just as we meet?¡± A blonde with fashionable clothing stood in front of the long haired girl. A group of four were right behind the blonde and a few steps away from the elevator.

    ¡°The first thing you do when you walked out from the elevator was trying to sell Circulums to the freshmen that just had theirs stolen! You knew about that beforehand because you stole it!¡±

    ¡°Let me get this straight. You, without any visible proof, are saying I stole the Circulums because I heard news of the first year¡¯s got their Circulum stolen and tried to solve their problems? You know what the Academy will do if they found out students lose sight of their ¡®precious¡¯ chip. I¡¯m the good guy here, Ada. I sell them cheaper Circulum and help them set up their profile in a way that the Academy wouldn¡¯t notice. And before you say anything, Ada, I got those chips legitimately. I bought them at the Academy. After all, who wouldn¡¯t want cheaper alternative when they wanted to install the chips in their latest version of the Circulum after replacing the older version ones the Academy gave?¡± The arrogant bastard remarked. His slim rectangular glasses made the smug look on his face even more arrogant. His voice was familiar to Rey. Somewhere in his mind, he knew where he heard the bastard¡¯s voice. With no better option at hand, Rey proceeded to place his right hand on his head after ensuring he is not in anyone¡¯s sight.

    ¡°Is this what you have become? A liar? A sly businessman?¡± Her voice softens, ¡°After what happened last year, haven¡¯t you learn your lesson? What happened to you? Why have you changed so much from a kindhearted boy to-- ¡±

    ¡°Enough! You don¡¯t know anything about me! Now move before I get angry.¡± He tried to push away the girl but she resisted.

    ¡°I will not move from this spot until the culprit has been found!¡± She stretched her arms wide, preventing him from stepping forward any further. The blonde glared at her in burning rage. His angry face slowly transformed into a grin.

    ¡°You want to know who did it so badly? Then I¡¯ll tell you. It¡¯s--¡±

    ¡°You. It was the ugly glasses guy who did it.¡± Everyone immediately turned their heads toward Rey while Rey just stood behind layers of bystanders emotionlessly.

    ¡°Did you just call me ¡®ugly glasses guy¡¯?¡± A cross-popping vein* appeared on his forehead, ¡°Are you asking for a beating, kid?!¡± The blonde was ready to sprint all the way to Rey and punch him in the face.

    *[Note: For those who don¡¯t know, this ¡®thing¡¯ appeared on anime/manga characters¡¯ head whenever they are angry. It is merely an expression here.]

    ¡°Yes. It will save my effort to make you confess you stole the Circulums.¡± The crowd already cleared a path between the accused thief and Rey. The blonde disregarded the girl in front of him and shoved her backwards. He strutted his way towards Rey and stopped when Rey¡¯s head was forced to move upwards to align his sight with the blonde¡¯s.

    ¡°You got guts to say that, kid. I should warn you to not accuse someone without proof.¡±

    ¡°I have the proof, but do YOU have the guts to accept a bet? If I can show everyone here that you are the culprit, I win.¡±

    ¡°Why not, since you are going to lose anyway. You will be my underling until you graduate if you lose.¡± He smirked.

    ¡°If I win, you will tell me where you hide the Circulums.¡± Rey remained emotionless.

    ¡°You are way over your head, kid.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the compliment, Alan.¡± The blonde almost lash out at Rey as Rey really was getting on his nerve.

    ¡°Now, would you be so kind to follow me to a less crowded place? Just in case you decide to run away from our bet.¡± Rey finally had a change in expression after arriving the city. It was a wicked grin. He knows the blonde was going to fall for it no matter what, so he started to waddle back the way he came. Alan¡¯s friends followed him, then Ada, then the clueless newcomers. They stopped just right outside Rey¡¯s room. Rey swirled to his back in order for their eyes to concentrate on each other.

    ¡°You see, my roommate, Eli, had his seal ring stolen instead of his Circulum. His Circulum was placed in his desk drawer while mine was on my finger. This proves whatever method was used, it cannot clearly detect the location of the ring despite being able to know when the both of us fell asleep. This explained why someone could call for our dear dorm staff here to unlock those who were stuck inside their room with a master key.¡± Rey was referring to Ada. He saw her at the information counter yesterday and the moment where she was unlocking doors with the keycard in her hands before Eli went bursting out from the room. ¡°But the question here, is how do you know people found out the Circulums are stolen?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t. I was looking for someone on this floor but as soon as I stepped out from the elevator, Ada here decided to accuse me of something I didn¡¯t do.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Again with the accusation? Cut to the chase kid, I don¡¯t have all day to spend with you losers.¡± A moment of silence filled the hallway. Before Rey continued, he removed the insect legs he discovered earlier from his pocket and lay it on his palm.

    ¡°This is what I found. One was found lying on the ground beside the bed in my room and the other in the potted plant behind me; as for the latter, we will get to that much later. My roommate mentioned he was briefly woken up by a sound which resembled that of a bug¡¯s. He didn¡¯t realize he hit the bug while trying to chase the sound away with his hand. This leg likely belongs to the bug which stole the rings. A bug is small, hardly detectable and probably has the capability to lift a ring or two.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you should be going after Daniel, the self-proclaimed ¡®Bug King¡¯. He has a bad reputation himself and he certainly has the ability to control bugs. You lose, kid.¡± A victorious smile surfaced.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t finished,¡± Rey said in a mildly annoyed tone, ¡°No matter how good a person is with a bug, he or she certainly cannot manipulate bugs to do their bidding by sheer force or will. It is either magic or Ingenium. Normally, none of us can detect whether if both of those are used. However, this is but a minor obstacle for I have a familiar. All of us know familiars can sense if there is a distortion in the Source Clouds, so you shouldn¡¯t doubt my words when I say no magic nor Ingenium was used because there are no distortions in the Source Clouds near where the rings rest, which is my left hand. If you are so stubborn to not be convinced, I¡¯m sure someone in the crowd can affirm my statement. No answer? Then I¡¯ll take your silence as a yes for believing me. As a side note, when other races activate their unique abilities, there will still be distortions in Source Clouds, thus they are not suspects in any way. Now, there is only one possibility left. Take a look at this leg.¡±

    He held the bug¡¯s leg between the toilet paper up high to ensure the blonde can see it clearly. ¡°If you examine it closely, you will find that this is not organic but electronic. Someone used a bug drone to steal the rings.¡± He slid the leg back into his pocket as the audience behind began to whisper to each other. Exactly what Rey expected to see, the confidence in the blonde¡¯s eyes was wavering.

    ¡°The drone certainly can camouflage itself to its surrounding. However, by my deduction, it would render the drone immovable as it would drain most of the energy to maintain the camouflage. This would explain why, even though the drone managed to sneak into our rooms, it cannot determine where the exact location of the Circulums are. It is also likely to have light** sensors attached to it, allowing it to know when we fall asleep. The easiest way to pinpoint the location of the Circulums is to send special signals, but these signals will be viewed as potentially hostile by the Circulum¡¯s defence system, giving out alarms of some sort. Thus, a thermographic camera is required. The way it detects the Circulum is by searching for an abrupt dark spot on our hand. This is why my roommate¡¯s seal ring, which has the same size as the Circulum was confused as one while his Circulum, hidden in his drawer, with no object of higher temperature surrounding it, was left alone. Now, all we have to do is to find the correct model of the drone and look for anyone in this building that possesses it.¡± **[Note: Not only the visible light but the entirety of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. So, even if Rey did the eye-rubbing thing with the ring which allows him to see the screen through other EM radiation (not visible light), the drone will not move as it still detects strong EM radiation in the room.]

    ¡°Good luck with that. There are hundreds of bug-modelled drones out there. Even with the leg, by the time you found it, whoever that did this is long gone.¡±

    ¡°You are correct. Except, yesterday, as I was passing through the lobby, I overheard some idiot telling his friends which exact model of the drone he had. Model 1AD18U6, the ladybug drone. Does this ring any bells? Because according to my memory, your voice sounds the same as the guy I just mentioned. This is why my roommate managed to damage the drone due to its slow speed whilst carrying both my Circulum, which it used to unlock the door and his seal ring. It¡¯s a shame you didn¡¯t take the risk of exposing the drone¡¯s existence or else you would¡¯ve gotten away with all of it.¡± A heated discussion was lit behind the blonde¡¯s friends. Ada, on the other hand, has a sad expression on her face. The reaction of the thief¡¯s friends was odd as if they were enjoying it.

    ¡°Are you an idiot? Those are not evidence, those are the fabrication of your sorry imagination. Admit you lost,kid, your words mean nothing at all.¡± Sweat began to show on his forehead. So what if the white hair kid managed to remember his conversation in the midst of a noisy place, he still wins if there are no concrete evidence against him.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t if you hadn¡¯t come all the way down to pick up the damaged drone.¡± Rey grinned again. The blonde almost lost his composure, his mind ran wild panicky. He was going to lose.

    ¡°Ten minutes ago, I saw a suspicious person doing something near the plant at the end of the hallway,¡± His thumb was put into motion, aiming at the potted plant far behind his back, ¡°He managed to escape before I had a chance to take a good look at his face. Remember the damaged drone I mentioned earlier? It probably managed to exit the room and crash landed on the potted plant. The thief must have set all the drones to carry out the operation automatically and when he woke up, he found one of the drones malfunctioned. Therefore, he came down personally, in hope of no one noticing him, to fetch the broken drone and the rings. On top of that, I believe he is holding the rings right now in his pocket. What do you think, Alan? You wouldn¡¯t mind me take a peek at your pocket, now would you?¡± Strangely, the blonde¡¯s smug smile reappeared. However, Rey couldn¡¯t be happier to see that smile.

    ¡°Come and see for yourself.¡±

    ¡°Excellent. But before that, will Ada, at the back, please remove the rings in your pocket?¡± There it is, the expression Rey has been waiting for, the paranoia written all over his face. Ada, naturally, was surprised as Rey called out her name. She did what Rey told her to and was shocked that there were two rings in her hand after reaching into her pocket.

    ¡°When do these two rings in my pocket?!¡± She was freaked out a little more than Rey thought she would.

    ¡°The rings in Ada¡¯s hands are the solid proof of your crime. This is where the other detached drone leg in the potted plant comes into play. You know the drone was missing two legs and that someone will eventually piece these two together and realize the suspicious person I saw is the thief. You needed to plant an evidence on a random person should anyone asking where you went in the morning to clear the suspicion on you. So you came down to this floor, with an excuse in mind to justify why you are here, and place those rings in her pocket, using magic or your good old drones undetected.¡±

    ¡°I--¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re trying to convince everyone here that you didn¡¯t put those rings in her pocket and she is the real thief, you can save it. The rings have small amounts of dirt on them for you to ensure everyone believes she was the mysterious person. That dirt is the no different with those in the potted plant, same goes for the small amount of dirt in your pocket right now. You can tell whatever lies you wish, because, with a little help from the Circulum, which I am sure someone will be kind enough to lend a hand, the dirt can be examined and become the ¡®solid proof¡¯ you so wanted. Checkmate. You lose.¡± The thief made his attempt to escape, though he can¡¯t possibly outrun every single angry student on this floor. Two of them restrained him while his friends left him to deal with this alone. Rey¡¯s intuition told him they are far more sinister than they seem.

    ¡°Here, the rings,¡± Ada stood beside Alan and placed the two rings on Rey¡¯s hand, ¡°I¡¯ll make sure he tells me where he hid the rest of the Circulums and get the punishment he so eagerly looking forward to. Thanks for your help. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Reynard Foxtale.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a nice name. You¡¯ll receive some units as a reward later. Goodbye, Mr Foxtale.¡± She then gestured the two freshmen to take Alan to the elevator as she followed at their heels. Hinoko shortly appeared from the kitchenette to greet Rey after he had returned to the room. He placed Eli¡¯s Circulum he borrowed on the table, wore back his and made his way into the washroom with the seal ring in hand.

    ¡°Are you okay in there? Are you in your original form right now?¡± Rey asked as he stood in front of the bathroom door. The fox jumped onto Rey¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Yes. I am in my original form right now. Did you found my seal ring?¡± Eli sounded tired.

    ¡°Yeah. Found it. I¡¯ll put it in front of the door and leave.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t leave!¡± Rey¡¯s movement froze for a moment. Eli realised his words came out wrong, ¡°I-I mean I¡¯ll open the door slightly for you to put the ring inside the bathroom.¡± The door was immediately slid to the right, leaving a small opening. Rey did what he asked, placing the ring on the bathroom floor and the door closes again. Eli, inside the bathroom, picked up the ring and put it back to his finger.

    ¡°What happened outside? I heard you¡¯re arguing with someone else. It will be awhile before I turn back to human form. Please stay and tell me how you got my ring back.¡± Rey didn¡¯t have any plans for today yet, so he sat down and narrated the entire incident.

    ¡°But how did you know Alan managed to put the rings into Ada¡¯s pocket? You said you didn¡¯t see him do it.¡± Eli interrupted Rey and asked.

    ¡°His expression sold him out. When I said I wanted to take a peek, he was ¡®happy¡¯ to let me. It was obvious at that point he didn¡¯t have it on him anymore. As for why he chose Ada, he has two reasons for doing that. First, she was one of the closest people standing around him. The second reason was because he hates her as seen in their conversation. He could¡¯ve easily chosen another person to place the rings but he just couldn¡¯t resist the temptation to frame her.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. What about the drone? Why did it fly to the potted plant in the first place?¡±

    ¡°It was heading towards the garbage chute. Every floor has four in each of the four corners, it just went to the closest one. It was a shortcut to Alan¡¯s floor. If he was more experienced and composed, I wouldn¡¯t be able to solve this easily.¡± By the time he finished the rest of the story, Eli¡¯s transformation was completed. He thanked sincerely to Rey for helping him as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom. Even though Rey replied ¡°You¡¯re welcome¡± in a monotone voice, Eli was sure that Rey smiled softly for a split second.

    Rey sat on the sofa in the front room for a few minutes waiting for Eli to wrap up his morning routine (brush teeth, taking shower, etc). Rey didn¡¯t expect a visit from anyone, but the doorbell rang. He ambled lazily towards the door and opened it.

    ?End of Chapter 1?

    Advisor: Jigoku Shounen

 The Exposition

    A goat. That was the first thing entered into Rey¡¯s mind. A few more seconds and he had analysed the person in front completely. He was a white furred, kind-looking, sort of cartoonish goat Demi with short horns protruding from his head. He wore a long sleeve shirt with alternating yellow and light green stripes on his compact body, a pair of black gloves on both his hands, dark blue jean on his skinny legs and blue sports shoes on his, well, feet.

    ¡°Howdy! My name¡¯s Aster, nice to meet you. You are Reynard Foxtale, correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Both of them shook and released their hands as Rey answered.

    ¡°I am assigned to be your guide alongside your roommate, Elliot. Is he here right now?¡± He was taller than Rey, thus he asked the question after peeking inside the room, which it was empty.

    ¡°He¡¯s in the washroom right now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting then. You really are something, Rey. Second day here and you already made a name for yourself.¡± Aster felt proud knowing that even before meeting his juniors, one of them had become somewhat famous. He never had a brush with fame for two years up until now. He was really excited. It was a little uncomfortable for Aster after that because Rey didn¡¯t say a single word before Eli entered the main room. He saw Rey staring at someone and brought himself closer to him. Rey nudged himself towards the door¡¯s right edge to allow Eli greet the individual in front.

    Aster did a similar introduction of himself for Eli as he did with Rey. Eli built up the courage inside him and said, ¡°He-Hello. My name is Eli, nice to meet you.¡± Unlike Rey looking directly at Aster¡¯s eyes when they shook hands, Eli entirely avoided eye contact; his head was slightly aimed diagonally downwards to the right. His performance was better when it was Rey because they are of the same age and he felt more comfortable. But when it comes to people of older ages, he can¡¯t readily overcome his shyness.

    ¡°A shy one, eh? Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get used to it as time goes by. I, too, was shy back then when meeting new people, but now I¡¯m enjoying it,¡± He released Eli¡¯s hand, chuckled after the last word came out from his mouth, then continued, ¡°We should head to the cafeteria. I¡¯ll explain some of the things both of you should know en route.¡± Hinoko immediately jumped and landed on Rey¡¯s shoulder right after Aster finished his sentence. It startled Aster a little bit, although his curiosity was much stronger and he bent down his body towards her.

    ¡°Amazing. You managed to make a Kitsune your familiar, a young one even more so. The Bond on her front leg is so small. So, you befriended her. I¡¯m impressed.¡± The fox backed her body away slightly and stared at Aster intensely. It¡¯s obvious she disliked him; he noticed it too and so returned to his original position.

    ¡°Sorry little fella. I¡¯ve never seen a young Kitsune in real life before. I got a little too excited. Come, let¡¯s go to the cafeteria.¡± He gestured them to follow and took off. Eli and Rey sauntered side by side behind Aster while Rey calmed Hinoko down.

    ¡°As you both have already known, the classes don¡¯t start until one week after your first arrival at the Academy. During this period, older students will show the newcomers the ropes. I¡¯m a third year, hence I have to be your guide for one week, or six days now I suppose. Frankly, I enjoy it. If you have any questions, please ask away.¡± Said Aster when the three of them were in the elevator and continued after they exited it to head towards the food counter. The cafeteria was indeed crowded but doesn¡¯t even come close to being full, hence, for them to acquire a table for four after piling food up on their plates was a relatively easy task.

    ¡°Now that we have finished our breakfast, I¡¯ll begin explaining how the education system in the Academy works,¡± Aster, who was sitting opposite to Rey, spoke after Hinoko finished her meal and now sitting in between Rey and Eli on the table, ¡°First of all, you can spend maximum ten years in the Academy, though the recommended amount of years studying here is eight. For geniuses and prodigies, four years are suffice for them, although they can still stay until the tenth year rolls by.

    You can take as many classes as you want, given that you can pass the Level Exams, it¡¯s to show how much mastery you have concerning the subject. There are three small tests in the first three semesters and in the final semester, the Level Exams will be held. Depends on the subject you chose, the types of tests and exams can vary much. For written tests, the Circulum will guide you to one of the ¡®test rooms¡¯ in the library.

    You must choose a language class and pass the 8th Level Exam, that is the only compulsory class you have to take no matter what. If you don¡¯t prefer to stay for four, eight or ten years in the Academy, you can choose to stay for five or six years instead. Once you chose the subjects you wish to study, you need to choose a time slot; you will have to ¡®fight¡¯ for it because there are time slots that most students prefer. The timetable for every class of every subject in on the Academy¡¯s website.

    If you detest attending classes, there are always alternatives. For example. If you dislike interacting with a teacher, you can join official study groups where older students teach the younger ones or simply to have a discussion with your peers to learn more. If that doesn¡¯t suit you either, try learning from reading, visit the library or just stay in your room and access all the information you need through your Circulum. You can use whatever method you wish so long you pass the tests. If you, unfortunately, failed the test, you can retake it during the holidays after each semester.

    The test papers are prepared by the algorithm in your Circulum as it records your studying progress and determines the difficulty of the questions. Let¡¯s say the syllabus this semester of your mathematics class concerns the method to perform multiplication and division. You are excellent in multiplication but weak in division. The algorithm, based on this fact, will give you more division questions than multiplication questions.

    During your first semester, you can take and drop any subjects you want. This is to allow students to try out different things and choose which subject they really wanted. After the first semester, you will have to stick with whatever subject you chose until the end of the year and wait for the next year¡¯s first semester to roll by. For those who finally settled down with their desired subjects at the start of the second semester, they are required to study extra hard in order to squeeze in four semesters¡¯ worth of studying into three semesters¡¯ worth of time. Which is why I recommend the both of you to decide what subjects you really want to delve into before the week ends.

    That is the simplest explanation I can give you. There are still a lot of written and unwritten rules regarding this topic but you¡¯ll just have to look it up yourself, otherwise, the three of us will have to sit here all day long. Any questions?¡± Seeing that the two freshmen didn¡¯t say a single word, he continued on to the next point.

    ¡°Next is the currency of the Academy, Units. Before I go in any further, I should mention that you can convert Units to Crowns and vice versa. However, Units are twice the value of Crowns, so think carefully before you decide to convert the currency. One of the main reason for this is to discourage parents from giving too much support to their children as the Academy wants its students to be independent. There are a lot of ways to earn Units, one of which is just going to class every day, although it¡¯s a slow progress. If you performed excellently in the Level Exams or you won first place in a competition, you¡¯ll get a lot of Units. There are also achievement rewards, which is essentially acknowledging a person¡¯s record-breaking act. Joining associations, clubs or guilds and finishing tasks given to you will also increase your Units. Another classic way to get Units is to do business or trade goods with other students. There are hundreds if not thousands of way to earn Units.

    Units aren¡¯t given to you only for buying things in the Academy, you will have to pay your daily expenses as well. After this week, the buffet we enjoyed just now will end and you have to buy your own meals in the dorms or in the Academy. One thing you need to know is the dorm punishes heavily for those who did not finish their meal and throw it away, although it¡¯s not like you can¡¯t choose from a variety of cuisines or that the food is terrible--¡±

    ¡°Hello, brat!¡± It was the blonde bastard and his friends again standing beside the table. Alan didn¡¯t give any of them a chance to respond upon his arrival as he pointed his index finger, with a bronze ring on it, at Rey and uttered one word, ¡°Force!¡± The ring on his finger instantly shattered into dust and a screen appeared before Rey¡¯s and Alan¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Aster stood up from his seat and confronted Alan.

    ¡°What are you, blind? Can¡¯t you see the two of us are engaging in a Challenge?¡± He smiled sinisterly.

    ¡°You used Force on a first-year! Have you no shame?!¡±

    ¡°I should remind you,¡± He walked even closer to Aster, ¡°that if you are attempting to interfere with our Challenge, I¡¯ll report you to the Enforcers.¡± Aster stifled his anger and did nothing but stare.

    ¡°You¡¯re not getting away this time, brat! You and I are going to play a game, The Avarice Wisdom. If I win, you will not only be my underling for the rest of your time in the Academy, you¡¯re also going to hand me over all the Units you earned from here on out! And just so you know, you can¡¯t decline my sincere invitation.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you so confident after you lose to me once? Fine. I¡¯ll play with you. If you lose, however, you will be my underling instead.¡± Eli was astounded by Rey¡¯s reply despite the dark grin. He thought Rey was merely an intelligent person with a cold attitude. He liked this badass side of Rey, furthering his respect for his new hero.

    ¡°Tch. This time, you really are way over your head. Do you even know what The Avarice Wisdom is? I bet you have no idea what it is and--¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t know because I haven¡¯t read about how to find Ratsel to enter the Chamber of Choice. Now, would you mind if we can get this over with quickly? I¡¯m tired of seeing your face.¡± Aster can¡¯t help but gave Rey a slow clap. Rey enjoyed the look on Alan¡¯s face--confused, and flabbergasted. Alan recovered from his shock and proceeded to type something on the screen. In front of Rey, words appeared slowly in the blank brackets. He observed the screen for awhile then go on to fill in his part of the brackets. In the ¡°Requirement to Win¡± part, the words in the brackets, written by Alan and saw by Rey, were ¡°Whoever to Complete The Avarice Wisdom First¡±. After the both of them were done, a final confirmation box popped out. Without hesitation, Rey pressed ¡°Confirm¡± and so did Alan. He and his ¡°friends¡± strode away in a fast pace, disappearing from Rey¡¯s view after the Challenge screen vanished.

    ¡°You¡¯re amazing Rey! You. Are. Amazing. How do you know about the Chamber of Choice?¡± Aster sat back down, his eyes sparkled admiration.

    ¡°I read about it last night.¡± Rey was impassive as ever.

    ¡°It¡¯s still impressive. And the Challenge! You knew about it! You must¡¯ve done some serious research before coming here.¡± Rey said nothing despite that was not true. The book he was reading yesterday was nothing more than a brief introduction to all the interesting locations within the Academy. The Challenge system along with the explanation given by Aster minutes ago was absolutely new to Rey. The contents of the screen brought up by Alan was relatively easy to understand, but other than that, he has no clue to what just happened. In his mind, he was pondering whether if he should ask for Aster to enlightened him or figured it out himself later.

    ¡°Oh, my. It seems Eli here has trouble following what¡¯s going on. Allow me to introduce you The Challenge System. It was created during the middle of the Great Age of Technologywhen ¡®cellphones¡¯ were just invented. In case you didn¡¯t know, cellphones are the predecessor of the Circulum. There have always been incidents of students fighting each other and in the end were wounded badly or even dying. At times, terrifying villains and powerful heroes emerged to fight against each other because of something insignificant happened within the school ground, like the legend of Mage of The End and The Hero of Void. The Academy tried to find a way in order to resolve students¡¯ disputes but to no avail. Then came the Great Age of Technology and all of the problems were solved, or at the very least, avoided many tragedies. The Challenge System is what its name implies, a system to allow students to challenge each other in any possible way without endangering anyone. The following are the procedures for setting up a challenge.

    1) Send out an invitation to the person you want to challenge. You can see the app in the ¡®Academy Page¡¯ came with the chip. Write down his/her name and click ¡®Send¡¯. He/She will receive your invitation. Now, all you have to do is wait. If the person at the receiving end declines your invitation, you have to wait for another thirty minutes to send again. However, if you want to challenge the same person after one of you won a challenge, you¡¯ll have to wait twenty-four hours before you can do that. If that person finds you too annoying because you have been spamming the invitation, he/she can put your name on the blacklist, thus preventing you from ever sending an invitation to said person until your name has been removed from the list. Also, you can send invitations to multiple people at once or the way around or organize a team challenge. As for why Rey couldn¡¯t decline the challenge earlier, that¡¯s another thing. I¡¯ll tell you about it later.

    2) Fill in the Challenge Contract. The details include names, which year you are in, how many people are involved in the challenge, what is the format of the challenge, the condition to win, the rewards, the location, date, time, special requirements and or limitations, et cetra, et cetra. The challenge can be held in anywhere within the Academy and it can be anything you imagine, whether it¡¯s sports, battles or an essay competition. Most challenges take place in the Mirror Dimension, an exact replica of our world but while in that dimension, you can¡¯t affect the real world even if you destroy everything within the dimension. Every time someone enters the dimension, everything will be reset to match its real world counterpart.

    In some cases, there are those who can¡¯t decide on the reward or thinks that the reward the opponent provided is not fair or wants to win so badly they would use underhanded means to ensure their victory. Enter the Enforcers. The Challenge System has its own flaws, hence there exist a group of people making sure no one is abusing it. They are a part of the Student Council, so don¡¯t get on their bad side. They deal with everything related to the Challenge System and nothing more. They are not to be confused with the Defenders, upholders of the rules of the Academy. You can learn more about them on their official site.

    3) Once the challenge commences, every participant will fight to achieve the condition to win. In certain situations, Enforcers will be called upon to make sure no one is altering parts of the real world to influence the Mirror Dimension. There is a ¡®Spectacle Mode¡¯ which allows people from the real world to observe everything that happened in the Mirror Dimension. This mode was created because there are competitions that use the Challenge System as well and the audience doesn¡¯t want to miss anything. In this case, the Challenge System act as a shortcut to the Mirror Dimension. As anything we do in the Mirror Dimension cannot affect the real world, it¡¯s incredibly convenient for a lot of situations like when someone wants to test out their new spells or simply wishes to get some space. Also, when we are ¡®killed¡¯ in the dimension, we won¡¯t die. After we¡¯re ejected from the dimension, no matter the severity of our wounds, our bodies will be restored to the state before we enter the dimension; if we do die in the dimension, we¡¯ll blackout when we exit the dimension.

    4) Now, about the rewards. After the challenge is over, the winners get their reward and the losers go home empty handed. It might seem nothing complicated at first glance but it gets tricky when the rewards are intangible. Let¡¯s say that a guy sent out a challenge invitation to a girl and the reward for him is the girl becomes his girlfriend. He wins and he got himself a girlfriend. A few months later, the girl got sick of him and wanted to leave, but if she did, she is violating the Challenge System rules; however, it¡¯s breaking the Academy''s rule to force someone to do something they don¡¯t want. You see what I¡¯m getting here? This is why we are advised not to put immaterial things as a reward, it¡¯s a pain to deal with. Enforcers are pretty much required to be present at challenges which fall into these situations.¡± He emptied his glass of orange juice after the lengthy explanation.

    Eli more or less understood and committed most of it to his memory whereas Rey ¡®recorded¡¯ the entire speech into his mind without much effort. Aster placed the empty glass down on the table before advancing to another round of intense explanation.

    ¡°Now, for the reason why Rey could not refuse the challenge. Briseur, or ¡®Breaker¡¯, is a device that allows the user to break certain rules within the Challenge System. There are three types of Briseur: Force, Object, and Cancel. All three of the Briseur takes the form of a simple ring but in different colours. Force is silver, Object is copper and Cancel is gold. They are expensive, this is why not many people would buy them despite allowing them to bypass some rules. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Object is the cheapest one as its only function is to nullify the effects of Force and Cancel. Its effects can only be triggered when you have it on your finger when the other two is used.

    Force grant the user to send out a challenge invitation which cannot be declined. Unless you have Object on you when Force is used or you possesses a Cancel, you can¡¯t escape from it. Some might think themselves as being clever by ignoring it. They couldn¡¯t be any more wrong. The longer you respond to a Forced invitation, the less you can take from your opponent; and if you¡¯re so persistent, the system will eventually decide your reward automatically. However, there is a flaw intentionally built into the Force Briseur. During usual challenges, the rewards proposed by opposing sides has to have more or less equal value, except for a few situations. When Force is used, the one on the receiving end can propose a reward half the value of what the user submitted, given that you don¡¯t drag on for too long.

    Cancel is the most powerful Briseur and the most expensive one. Its ability is to cancel the effects of other Briseur or the entire challenge even though it¡¯s still going on.

    Those three are the legal Briseur. I say that because there are rumours of more powerful Briseur being sold in black market. I don¡¯t know about you, but I believe they are real and they are extremely dangerous. So be careful if you do come across these Briseur.

    There is just one last thing I need to tell you. The Challenge System doesn¡¯t operate independently. It utilizes the Trade System when the winner has been decided. The Trade System is a formalize system which students used to trade items with others. You can check it out yourself.¡± He stopped and stare intently at Rey.

    ¡°You should go to the Academy right now, Rey. Alan already had a head start and he definitely has some plans or tricks to beat the game faster than you to invite you to a challenge. The point being, if you need my help, just say so.¡± Aster imagined Rey would eye at him unemotionally as he considers his offer for several minutes.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then. Time¡¯s ticking.¡± There wasn¡¯t even a pause between Aster¡¯s last word and Rey¡¯s swift reply. The two of them adopted Rey¡¯s action of removing himself from the chair and power-walked at the direction of the elevator as Hinoko leapt onto his shoulder. When exited from the elevator, Aster took the lead whilst the two youngsters trotted behind, making way for the station outside. Rey noticed Eli¡¯s faint anxiousness on him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself thinking too hard, Eli. Take your time.¡± This abrupt sentence came out from Rey startled him slightly. He was quite confident that he hid his nervousness, due to his incapability of fully processing all the explanation given by Aster whilst Rey has no problem whatsoever. In any case, Rey¡¯s word alleviated his uneasiness. The monorail arrived just in time when they reached the station. The compartment they entered was nearly empty, hence Aster went on to inform Rey the history of The Avarice Wisdom, passed only from mouth to mouth, in an intermediately loud voice.

    ¡°The Avarice Wisdom is one of the Eight Wonders of Yggdrasil Academy. Like the other seven, its origin is widely unknown. I assume you knew of The Avarice Wisdom from the book, Place of Interest in Yggdrasil Academy,¡± Rey gave a nod, ¡°Then you certainly would know that there aren¡¯t in-depth descriptions for all of the place of interest. This is because of an ancient rule, ¡®Thee shalt not speaketh of its secrets¡¯, which forbids anyone who once entered the Academy from telling those who didn¡¯t about what lies within those walls. It was even punishable by death a long, long time ago. At some point in the recent past, people thought the rules were too strict, so they loosen it. Now, people can talk about it openly, but they still won¡¯t deliberately let outsiders know too much, that is why the book contains little information about the places.

    Regarding The Avarice Wisdom, I apologize for telling you that it is one of the Wonders. I¡¯ve mistaken it for Ratsel as does most of the students. You will understand why I made this error after listening to what I have to say. Ratsel isn¡¯t a single entity, rather it¡¯s a collection of doors. You heard me right, Ratsel is a collection of doors, The Enigma Doors. These doors are everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It might be quite difficult to understand but bear with me. The doors that are part of Ratsel have the ability to lead people into rooms other than the original, physically attached rooms. In order to activate it, you will need to meet the incredibly specific conditions. However, there were two problems to find one. There were no tangible records of all the doors that are a part of Ratsel and the requirements to activate known doors. As for why Ratsel was created in the first place, there is a story behind it. Before the Academy was, well, an academy, it was a fortress; the size of the structure was much, much smaller than it is now. Those who occupied it were afraid of intruders stealing valuable items from them. So, they created overlapping multi-dimensional doors which will allow them to access important rooms while preventing intruders from ever finding them. Unfortunately, they lost to a much stronger faction and all of them were killed. They didn¡¯t write down this secret anywhere so nobody knew such doors exist, that is, until after the Academy was founded.

    According to the legend, a professor had supposedly found a ¡®Master Room¡¯ that connected to all the Ratsel doors by accident. The Professor didn¡¯t know what to do with it at first, thus he called a few close students and colleagues and tell them about it. They weren¡¯t interested in any of the treasures they found, but they became somewhat obsessed with the doors themselves. Long story short, they decided to expand Ratsel to the entire Academy. There were speculations of why they did it, although most people believed they did it for fun. This theory was widely accepted because of The Avarice Wisdom. You see, the legend says that The Professor invited many like-minded people to join him. Among those people, one of them had an idea of turning one of the rooms to become a starting point of a treasure hunt. But that person wanted to let others play the treasure hunt when The Professor wished all the doors to be activated through normal means, that is to not give out any hints about the location and the way to activate it. The Professor, upon hearing that person¡¯s suggestion, made two decisions.

    First, he allowed that person to leaked out the existence of the door connected to the ¡®starting point¡¯ room, later known as Chamber of Choice and a hint to activate it. That person, along with his or her friends, created The Avarice Wisdom. I should mention that The Avarice Wisdom used only one of the Ratsel doors. The second decision The Professor made was, through the widespread news of The Avarice Wisdom, make his version of The Avarice Wisdom, The Impossible Conundrum. It seems that The Professor changed his mind after all. His ¡®treasure hunt¡¯ contains little to no clues about the whereabouts of the rest of the Ratsel. Originally, he didn¡¯t say anything about treasures, which is why no one even bothers to search for Ratsel. After that, he took all the treasures in the initial Ratsel rooms and distributed them across all those hidden rooms. His plan succeeded, it attracts a lot of attention, but it was still no match for The Avarice Wisdom¡¯s popularity as it was ridiculously difficult. After that, the group was disbanded and anyone that was once part of it was not allowed to speak of anything related to it anymore. Despite that was how the legend goes, there were rumours that the group still exist and they have expanded Ratsel to outside the Academy.¡± They arrived at their destination and alighted the monorail.

    ¡°Oh, one more thing. Some of the doors of Ratsel are connected to more than one place, which means there is more than one way to activate it.¡± They took the express lane and arrived in front of the entrance almost instantaneously. Aster gestured them to stop after stepping foot into the first hallway.

    ¡°Activate your Circulum and bring up the Academy Page,¡± He turned to his back, facing the duo. The three of them did as Aster said, in unity, ¡°See the ¡®Travel¡¯ app? Tap it and enter the words ¡®Fifth Ring, Sector 01, Room 23-1¡¯. After you¡¯re done, press ¡®Confirm¡¯.¡± Fingers moving as fast as they can. They arrived before an intricate door with a unique design and a peculiar keypad, alongside a screen on top of it, beside said door. after confirming their destination

    ¡°Rey, I¡¯m going to tell you how to enter The Chamber of Choice because you¡¯ll have to enter the room your own. First, push your palms against each other for three seconds in front of the door. Immediately after that, place both of your hands on the two hummingbirds drawing on the door for another three seconds before turning the tips of your finger towards each other. Do NOT leave any spaces between the door and your hand during the whole process. Remove your hands once five seconds have passed. When you turn the doorknob and open the door, you will be sucked into the room even though there is only a small gap between the door and the wall. You only have one try, so don¡¯t mess it up.¡±

    ¡°What should I do after I went inside?¡± Rey asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It seems that anyone that entered the room figured it out themselves. I¡¯m sure you will know what to do. Eli and I will wait outside for you.¡± Aster backed away from the door while Rey approached it. As he followed Aster¡¯s instruction, Aster himself was wondering if Rey¡¯s familiar can enter the room together with her master. Rey did flawlessly and when he nudged the door to open slightly, he felt a strong force pulling him inwards.

    <hr>

    Rey had to cover his eyes instinctively due to the sudden bright light shining down on him. He began to look around the room after his eyes had adjusted itself. Hinoko was more curious than Rey, jumping to his head and goggling around the mystical chamber in an excited manner. The room was smaller than his dorm room but it seems to extend infinitely towards the top. The walls of the chamber were maroon in colour, although the blinding light directly above the middle of the room made the colour lighter. It feels like he was in a tiny, cylindrical tower rather than a regular room as he imagined; it even had a spiral staircase attached to the walls to his right to strengthen the connection.

    Aster was right when he said anyone that goes in figured it out what to do themselves. There were massive amounts of gem floating in the room; not everywhere in the room, but where the light touches. Somehow, Rey could feel the room is compelling him to take one of the gems. He resisted the feeling and tread his way up the staircase. After walking for a minute or so, something interesting happened.

    His pendant was resonating. It was weak, though not weak enough to not be detected. It guided Rey to go up and up with the increased resonance until even Hinoko was drawn to one of the gems in front of him. There were still multiple choices in front of him; he wasn¡¯t sure which one was the ¡®correct¡¯ one. He reached out his hand, almost touching the closest gem, and his eye colour began to change, from ice blue to black with tiny streams of ultramarine spreading away from the center. Strips of the same colour gradually appeared from his hand and slowly extending towards the gem; at the same time, his other hand enclosed the blue pendant with the same strips covering it; the strips from both of his hand were also moving in a such a way that it would be connected with one and another. After the strips engulfed most of the gem, it made its way slowly through the air to another one; the strips moved in all direction, eagerly searching for the resonating gem.

    When the strips made the first contact with a ruby as large as his palm, the almost-perfect cylindrical gem and his pendant reached the maximum resonance which he took it as a sign to deactivate his Ingenium. The ruby, as if it had a mind of its own, floated past the space between them and settled down on his opened hand. Without any warning, he felt a strong force repelling him out of the room as his vision became dark.

    <hr>

    Eli wanted to say ¡°Good Luck¡± to Rey, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t find the courage to do such a simple thing. Rey helped him, and he wasn¡¯t a bit curious about his real form. Inside his head, he scolded himself for not able to deliver two simple words to express his gratitude. It doesn¡¯t matter what Rey think of it, it¡¯s something he believed he was ¡°supposed¡± to do but failed to. He would continue to dwell in his thought if not for Aster¡¯s sudden question.

    ¡°Do you know about the Rings of the Academy, Eli?¡± After Rey entered the door, both of them retreated to the wall beside the door and stood against it. Aster was standing left to the door while Eli was awkwardly beside him, much further away from the door. Eli glanced at him then shook his head slightly.

    ¡°Since Rey probably already knew about this, I figured I should take the time now to explain it to you.

    Within the Academy building, there are eight Rings. Between these Rings, there are hallways connecting the Rings.

    The First Ring consists of classrooms of much more ¡®active¡¯ subjects like alchemy or magic. The reason why is because if something goes wrong, it wouldn¡¯t cause as much damage compared to if the classrooms are placed inside the inner Rings.

    The clubs, associations or guilds that are in the Second Ring have the same reason as the first one. In extreme cases, the members will cause serious damages to the surroundings. Don¡¯t worry about it though, it doesn¡¯t happen that often.

    The Third Ring, which you had definitely seen, have the eight halls and shopping complexes in between those halls. Pretty much everything sold outside the Academy can be bought there, including exclusive stuff that can only be bought inside the Academy. All the shops there are run by students, and if you want to have a shot at doing business, you can start there.

    The Fourth and Fifth Ring are similar to the First and Second Ring, except the activities and subjects here are much more ¡®boring¡¯, like mathematics or literature. This room beside me, when its door was not being used as a Ratsel, is one of the Art Club¡¯s room. Or is it the Sculpture Club? I don¡¯t remember.

    The Sixth Ring is the library, formally known as ¡®Wisdom of The Ancients¡¯, translated from a language that was on the brink of extinction. All the books written in Speir, even before the inception of the library itself, and the books which were collected from other realms are stored there. Although they say every book in the library can be read by anyone, you would still need clearance for certain types of books.

    The Seventh Ring is where the workplace of the Student Council and our government lies. You cannot simply wander into that Ring or the one after. It¡¯s for security measures and normal students usually don¡¯t get involved with the people in that Ring.

    Last but not least, the Eighth Ring is the most special Ring in the entire Academy. It¡¯s a garden. It¡¯s a regular, normal garden,¡± Eli raised his head up and stared at Aster with a look of disbelief. He stared back at him, ¡°Of course, it wasn¡¯t just a normal garden. In the absolute center of the Academy, the realm of Speir and the realm lies a tree. This tree is Yggdrasil, the first plant that existed after the speculative event, Apocalypse of The God of Destruction. It¡¯s kinda funny that the legendary World Tree, or the less preferred name Realm Tree, is just one plain and simple tree. Many had studied the tree, trying to find signs of uniqueness of the tree. In the end, there was but one unique thing about Yggdrasil--it¡¯s one of a kind. Other than that, they found out the tree couldn¡¯t reproduce in any way. The garden around the tree was created afterward and became a place for the people from the Seventh Ring to take a break. And that concludes my brief introduction of the Rings. Was my explanation good?¡± Eli nodded and shifted his sight back on the ground.

    Aster wanted to crack a joke but resisted seeing that Eli would probably be even more uncomfortable. He knows how it feels like, trying to accustomed to new places. It was much worse for him in the past as he wasn¡¯t a resident of Speir, to begin with.

    Two boys appeared at the other side of the hallway and initiated a conversation upon their arrival.

    ¡°How long are we gonna wait for him to come?¡±

    ¡°A few more minutes, maybe. Hey, did you heard about the guy with a naked, green-haired baby on his back? It seems that the freshman took the 666th spot in the ¡®Raw Strength¡¯ ranking on the first day!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I heard about that guy. Despite his skinny appearance, he punched the heck out of the previous 666th spot guy. For a delinquent like him, it¡¯s kinda silly that people named him ¡®The Child-Rearing Badass.¡¯¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be funny if we ever come across with him. I hope I¡¯ll never have to meet this guy.¡±

    ¡°Same.¡±

    Moments after the two guys in front of Aster and Eli finished their conversation, Rey fell over to his knees after he came out the door, which was shut back immediately. He declined Aster¡¯s help and got back to his feet; on the other hand, Hinoko was not affected in any way because she already attached herself firmly on his shoulder by using a small trick.

    ¡°What now?¡± Rey passed the ruby to Aster.

    ¡°I shall explain the rules,¡± Aster parsed the entire gem before handing it back to Rey.

    ¡°There are, in total, seven stages in The Avarice Wisdom. For each stage, you will have to complete one task within twenty-four hours. If you fail to do that, the gem will disappear and you lose the game, forever. You cannot go back to get yourself another gem. The tasks will only demand you to find a location or something that is permanently fixed in one place; however, the tasks varies for each person and will never repeat itself, even if a thousand years has passed by. The format of the hints also varies with people, but it will stay the same way for all seven stages; the single exception being bold words or numbers represents itself as a physical thing. Other than that, there are two ¡®tool¡¯ programs. The first one is ¡®Sensor¡¯. Its purpose is to alert you that your objective is within a hundred-meter range, although the beeping won¡¯t get faster every time you get closer to the target. You will only have four times to use it and it will be deactivated after ten seconds. The second ¡®tool¡¯ is ¡®Scanner¡¯. It informs you in which Ring your objective lies. Rey, raise up the gem and do as I say. Draw a circle on the gem.¡± Three words appeared on the gem once Rey had followed his instruction. The three words were ¡°The Devil¡¯s Well¡±.

    ¡°That is how you bring up the hint. Now slide your finger from the top to bottom,¡± The words on the gem dissolved, ¡°That is to revert the gem to its inactive state. Now, a square,¡± The gem turned transparent, ¡°After you found the objective, use this mode and aim it at the objective. If it¡¯s a location, use this mode to look around the place for a mark that will show up on the gem but does not exist in real life. If you draw an X, it will activate the Sensor; if it¡¯s a cross, the Scanner will reveal which Ring does your objective resides on the surface. If you draw a spiral, it will show you how much time left for you to complete the current task. After you cleared all the stages, the gem will lead you to a treasure. That is all I can tell you about The Avarice Wisdom. Now that I¡¯ve finished the explanation, what will you--Woah! What are you doing?!¡± He couldn¡¯t help to stop himself raising his voice because Rey was attempting to draw a cross, though his action was interrupted. ¡°Are you sure you want to use the Scanner right now? Perhaps we should--¡±

    ¡°According to Place of Interest in Yggdrasil Academy, there are more than a hundred places that are associated with the word ¡®devil¡¯. As we are far behind Alan, using the Scanner would be the most logical choice for this situation.¡± Aster found his reason sound, hence he didn¡¯t bother to come up with a counter. Rey drew the cross, found where he needed to go next and shoved the gem into his pocket.

    ¡°Our first stop will be the Sixth Ring.¡± Rey brought up the Travel app once more and entered the coordinates. As soon as the other two had entered the coordinates, the three of them pressed the ¡®Confirm¡¯ button in perfect sync.

    ?End of Chapter 2?

    Advisor: Jigoku Shounen

 The Avarice Wisdom

    ¡°Hmm.¡± Eli felt it was odd that even though they now stood before the grand, ancient library which possesses millions, if not tens of millions of valuable books and tomes, a ¡°Hmm¡± was all Rey remarked. He resisted himself for letting out a ¡°Woah¡± in sight of such awe-inspiring architecture.

    What the trio saw was a gigantic door, much similar to the gate on the borders of the Academy. However, no matter how hard anyone pushes the door in order to open it, it would be all for nought because those ¡°doors¡± were merely drawn onto the walls made from the Bevara trees. The wood of Bevara trees has the ability to cool down what resides within the library and ensure the air is relatively dry so that the books won¡¯t be easily destroyed. Of course, there is still a door for them to enter the library at the very end of the fake, but a realistically giant door.

    ¡°I got a friend who is a librarian. He might have a clue to what we are looking for. This way.¡± Rey was silent because he was already searching for clues on the Academy¡¯s web as they entered the library. In his mind, he has long ruled out the possible locations from the book, Place of Interest in Yggdrasil Academy. Their first clue, ¡°The Devil¡¯s Well¡±, has no bold words, thus the reason why he was swimming through tons of discussions about obscure histories in the library which have the keywords of ¡°devil¡± or ¡°well¡± or, hopefully, both.

    ¡°Look out for suspicious individuals or drones. It¡¯s doubtful that Alan won¡¯t pull any dirty tricks.¡± Rey said mindlessly a couple steps after following Aster¡¯s lead. Eli turned his head to the right while Aster rotated his body slightly to his back, both glanced at him for a second. They heeded his advice and began to casually observe their surroundings.

    He could¡¯ve just sat somewhere else and let Aster find his friend, but Rey preferred walking whenever he was utilizing his mind intensely. Although the screen in front of him encompassed his vision, he could grasp his surroundings through his trained senses. Minutes later, they arrived at a circular counter, occupied by several people at different parts of the counter. Aster went to greet his friend and left Eli alongside Rey a bit further from the counter. Rey paced back and forth in straight line, completely immersed in his research. Eli, on the other hand, figuring that he should do something to contribute to their goal, sat on a nearby chair and started searching for clues on the web as well.

    After ten minutes or so, Rey began to feel irritated. Not a single lead that would fit the criteria of being ¡®non-physical¡¯. Most of them are just books or legends with unknown origins and no evidence to support its existence.

    Maybe he was thinking the wrong way. He closed the screen and pondered what other possible meanings can ¡°The Devil¡¯s Well¡± have. ¡®The¡¯ obviously don¡¯t have any ulterior definition; the word ¡®Devil¡¯ most likely act as the most important clue, but the difficulty lies within the fact that it wasn¡¯t ¡®physical¡¯, implying that it couldn¡¯t be a word, a painting or anything he could see. And now, it comes down to ¡®Well¡¯. ¡®Well¡¯ have various definition, not including the one which states it as a tangible thing. Perhaps it meant ¡®The Devil¡¯s region of minimum potential¡¯ in the context of Physics? It¡¯s probably not. Then, the only other definition which isn¡¯t denoting a physical item is ¡®a plentiful source or supply¡¯.

    ¡°The Devil¡¯s plentiful source or supply.¡± A source¡­He grinned. He now knows where to look for the clues. He brought back the screen and hastily punched the new keywords into the search engine. Seconds later, his theory proved him right. A few more minutes to filter out unreliable claims and the most satisfying answer appeared before him. He scuffed towards Eli to inform him his findings.

    ¡°Eli, tell Aster to go to 13.5.24 room. Both of you meet me there.¡± He immediately teleported to said room via the library¡¯s Travel app without waiting or giving a care for Eli. Eli froze in shock for a few seconds before going to Aster and relayed Rey¡¯s message in a tiny voice (because he¡¯s shy).

    Seeing that they haven¡¯t arrived, he ordered Hinoko to sense what was inside the room and sure enough, the results were what he had expected. ¡°What did you find, Rey?¡± Aster asked upon arriving. Rey gestured them to step into the room with him instead of giving a verbal answer.

    The room they went in was an ordinary room used by students to take written tests given by the Circulum¡¯s algorithm, hence only a chair and table was present in the tiny room. Rey took out the gem in his pocket, drew a square on it with his finger and frantically scanned the entire room after Hinoko jumped down to the table. At the end, his movements stopped when he aimed the gem at the middle point of the intersection line between the left wall and the ceiling. There, the screen showed him a ball of light that wasn¡¯t present in the real room. The ball of light vanished from the screen, replaced by three words with an opaque background.

    ¡°The Solar Dragon. That¡¯s our next hint.¡± Hinoko returned to Rey¡¯s shoulder as he slid the gem back to his pocket and would have left the room if not for Aster¡¯s inquiry.

    ¡°Rey, wait! You could at least tell us how did you know that this room is ¡®The Devil¡¯s Well¡¯.¡± Rey halted, then turned to his back to stare at Aster, which he had his arm lifted, with the intention to stop Rey, but put it down after Rey met his eyes, and Eli, who had no idea what is going on just stood there.

    ¡°There was once a student who opened a portal, connecting our world with another dimension, to draw immense energy from it. One day, few creatures from that dimension jumped into our world and caused some ruckus. The portal was forced to close afterwards. There were other people that saw the creatures and was convinced they came from the Underworld.¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    A faintly annoyed expression surfaced, ¡°The Devil¡¯s Well. I made the assumption that it was a well where someone draws power from. I found this incident but it didn¡¯t have any connection to the Devil until I saw the word ¡®Underworld¡¯. Most of the known mythology associates the Devil as the master of the Underworld.¡±

    ¡°So you formed the connection of the well to the Devil because it might also be using the portal, aside from the student who made it, to bring his minions to this world?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I asked Hinoko to scan the room for ¡®stains¡¯ in the Source Clouds within the room. Beings originate from other worlds tends to leave permanent traces. The most important reason that gem still acknowledges the existence of the well in this room is because the portal is still here, even though this side of the gate is closed. We can¡¯t see it, hence fulfilling the point of not being physical.¡±

    ¡°You amazed me, Rey!¡± Aster skipped to Rey¡¯s left and slapped lightly on his back, ¡°You make The Avarice Wisdom looked like a piece of cake!¡± Rey didn¡¯t respond to his compliment.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to a study room. I wouldn¡¯t want to waste any more time.¡± He twisted his body towards the door and exited the room.

    ¡°Come on, Eli. Let¡¯s go.¡± Eli nodded and followed Aster at his back. The feeling of uselessness bubbled up even more in his heart. He didn¡¯t do much, but he refused to be a non-contributing member of the team.

    <hr>

    Aster covered his mouth as he yawned then puts down his hand and continued to gather remaining information regarding ¡°The Solar Dragon¡±. The three of them had been sitting in the study room, eyes fixed on the screen for hours. After the first stage has been cleared, they had left this room once to have lunch. Rey didn¡¯t use the Scanner because he deemed physical objects was ¡®easy to find¡¯.

    ¡°I¡¯m done.¡± Rey had finished his portion of the search. They separated the list of leads among themselves to speed up the process. They decided to assemble all potential leads first before filtering them out one by one.

    ¡°And¡­...finished. That was exhausting. Who knew there were so many Solar Dragons?¡± Before relaxing his body and slumped down on the soft and comfy couch, Aster sent his results to Rey for him to examine.

    ¡°What¡¯s your progress, Eli?¡± Rey asked in such a way that it won¡¯t evoke Eli¡¯s anxiety. Even though, on the surface, Rey acts as if he was oblivious to other people¡¯s feeling, in actuality, he just doesn¡¯t care most of the time. Rey knew Eli was trying his hardest to catch up with him and Aster, but he doesn¡¯t want Eli to aware his slow pace. Rey sensed that Eli was not one to easily handle his own anxiety.

    ¡°Just a little bit more.¡± He replied quietly. He sat right beside Rey, so even with that voice, Rey heard it clearly.

    Another hour passed and now the three of them were sitting together with Rey in the middle trying to narrow down the clues the collected.

    ¡°Rey, what about this one that I found?¡± Eli pointed his finger at the top left corner of an enlarged screen.

    ¡°Hmm...It¡¯s very likely.¡± Now all the rocks weighing Eli down had vanished.

    ¡°What about this, Rey? I think this statue might also be The Solar Dragon.¡± Aster stretched his arm towards the center to magnify his picture. Then, he continued to expand two other pictures.

    ¡°Possible, but the painting and the book are not.¡± Rey swiped the two pictures away.

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡± He laid back to the couch.

    ¡°What do you two think about this one? These reflected lights will form a dragon on the ground when it¡¯s noon.¡± It was ridiculous, sure, but Rey denied to push away even the most unlikely clues.

    ¡°Could be. Although, we¡¯ll have to wait for tomorrow to see if it¡¯s the one.¡± Aster strongly hoped this wasn¡¯t the one.

    ¡°We¡¯ll deal with the rest of them later if these ten weren¡¯t the hint is referring to. On go.¡± The trio removed themselves from their sitting posture in unison as they brought up the Travel app. Rey took out the gem, drew a cross on it and,

    ¡°GO!¡± The ¡®Confirm¡¯ was pressed on simultaneously by the three of them. As soon as they arrived at the first destination, they teleported to the second location because the gem didn¡¯t give off any sound. Then they went to the third location on the list, then the fourth, the fifth and stopped at the sixth because ten seconds have passed.

    Rey drew a square on the gem again and scan carefully around the area of a wall painting. Half an hour later, they found themselves inside a coin collection room. The case display with the coins from three thousand years ago had a background of a dragon and the Sun. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t their target either.

    They arrived in front of a hall, similar to the one Rey entered yesterday, but with different colour scheme.

    Eli was nervous. Of course he¡¯s nervous. He was the one that proposed they should come here, and also because the other location he proposed (the third one) didn¡¯t cause the gem to give off any sound. He almost prayed for Aether to help him because he doesn¡¯t want to disappoint them.

    Above the main door was a symbol of a dragon. They stood there, occasionally walk back and forth, for ten minutes or so until the light of the setting sun touched the dragon. Rey focused the transparent gem on the Solar Dragon and it returned to its opaque form with another three words on it.

    ¡°Yes! You¡¯re awesome Eli!¡± As a result of Aster standing behind Rey and Rey raising the gem high enough to let the dragon symbol appear on the gem, he saw the three words emerged. He did a double-fist-hold-up while praising Eli, then he proceeded to hug him for a second before letting him go. Eli¡¯s astonishment was suppressed as Rey turned towards Eli.

    ¡°Nice one, Eli.¡± He smiled faintly. Eli said nothing as he tried to hide his blush by staring at the ground.

    <hr>

    ¡°So, our next task is to look for the Maze of Heart, huh? Are you going to use the Scanner for every hint that doesn¡¯t have a bold word?¡± Aster, through the video conference, asked.

    ¡°Yes. Activating the Scanner now.¡± The gem displayed the location of their third objective. ¡°It¡¯s in the Fifth Ring.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. I don¡¯t suppose it would be hard to find for such a quite specific place or thing. I¡¯ll send you whatever information I can gather. See ya.¡± He switched off the screen and place the gem on his desk. Once he grabbed his pyjamas, he took a glance at the bright moon hung in the sky, inhabited by thousands of stars, as he passed by the window. Hinoko leapt onto his shoulder in the process of sauntering his way to the bathroom.

    ¡°You were my clarity, I swear. Alone in a daydream~¡± Eli was enjoying his bath while singing to his favourite song but was interrupted when he heard the bathroom door sliding open.

    ¡°Hm-WAA!¡± He exclaimed and hurriedly cover his body when he directed his sight to the right and saw Rey ambling in emotionless.

    ¡°What are you doing in here?!¡± As much as Eli wanted to drive Rey out of the bathroom, he was too stupefied and embarrassed to do anything but watching Rey came to a stop after he practically screamed.

    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± He kept on advancing towards the bathtub whilst Eli kept on covering and rotating his body in a way that his eyes wouldn¡¯t leave Rey.

    ¡°Of course there¡¯s something wrong! You can¡¯t just walk in here while I¡¯m taking a shower!¡± He closed his mouth upon completing his sentence. He can¡¯t believe he just...scolded Rey. On the other hand, Rey pushed a button at the end of the tub. The tub was instantly filled with water.

    ¡°Is that the way city people takes shower? I came from the Outer Region, so excuse me for being ignorant to your habits,¡± He entered the tub and slowly lain down on it, ¡°Either way, I¡¯m not going to disturb you. But if this is making you really uncomfortable, tell me now. I will leave immediately and never do it again. If not, please be as quiet as possible. I need to concentrate.¡± After patiently waiting for her master to get into the tub, Hinoko hopped into the tub, made a big splash and began paddling in the water as Rey closed his eyes in order to delve into his mind palace.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    It was really awkward for the first sixty seconds which felt like an hour, but a few more minutes after that Eli resumed his shower as usual. It was a weird experience, although he didn¡¯t dislike it. He still had to exit the bathroom much earlier due to his inability to fully control.

    <hr>

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Rey asked with concern, although in an impassive manner.

    They both woke up nearly at the same time. When Rey dove down from his bed, he accidentally hit Eli with his hand, who was sitting outwards his bed, transitioning to a much-waking state.

    ¡°I¡¯m-I¡¯m fine. It didn¡¯t hurt much.¡± Though Eli still caressed the painful spot on his head.

    After all of them were ready to leave the room, Rey had a bad discovery.

    ¡°The door¡¯s jammed.¡± Said, Rey, as he promptly activates his Circulum to call for Aster¡¯s help.

    ¡°Who did this? Is it Alan?¡± Eli¡¯s panic level rose up.

    ¡°Definitely.¡±

    An hour later, the door was finally opened. Rey and Eli saw Aster and Ada stood side-by-side outside the room.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have any clear evidence that Alan or his minions were the ones who practically glued the door and sabotage the anti-Source control. Still, it couldn¡¯t be anyone but him, given that he is the only suspect with crystal clear motives. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make sure this doesn¡¯t happen again, because I¡¯ll be personally strengthening the security system of this floor. I¡¯ll look into the system¡¯s hack, see if I could trace it back to Alan.¡± Ada didn¡¯t say anything about collecting physical evidence for the tampering of the door. Whoever did it leave absolutely no trace to follow.

    ¡°Thank you for your help, Ada.¡± He shook Ada¡¯s hand.

    ¡°If it¡¯s for these two cute puppies, I don¡¯t mind.¡± She gave a wink to the both of them.

    <hr>

    ¡°Boss! They got out from their room. Should we beat them after they arrive at the Academy?¡± Alan¡¯s minion, who was monitoring the screen along with two other, relayed the message to him through a hidden device inside his ear. The screens in front of those minions projected continuous images captured by a few fly-like drones hovering down the hallway the trio was in.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t do anything stupid. Keep observing them. You can do whatever you want that would slow down their progress only after tomorrow, when they won¡¯t be expecting us as much. Unless they¡¯ve reached the sixth stage before I do, don¡¯t act without my permission. Got it?¡± Alan¡¯s sight was constantly shifting around the large room. His gem was smaller than Rey¡¯s, hence explaining the sweat gushing out from his body. In this immense room of sword collection, he had spent nearly half an hour to clear the fourth stage. Through his aptitude for technology, he had created programs to scan through the Academy¡¯s public database and from the accumulated information, it deduced the most feasible targets. This was the reason why Alan was extremely confident he could win against Rey. It was a fight of technology against the human brain.

    <hr>

    ¡°Aurgh! At last!¡± Rey slouched down on the chair in front with the gem in his loose grip.

    ¡°I was afraid all the time spent searching through those rooms would all be for naught. It would be a nightmare if what you said about Maze of Heart is referring to the psychology club was wrong.¡± Said Aster while he and Eli ambled towards Rey.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired.¡± He placed his arm across his eyes, trying to have some needed rest.

    ¡°Rey, can-can we go now? I¡¯m starving. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t help you out, but I¡¯m really hungry.¡± Eli couldn¡¯t resist it any longer. He genuinely doesn¡¯t want to disturb Rey and want to let him rest for awhile, yet the signals telling him he needs to fill his stomach with food were too overwhelming for him to suppress any longer.

    ¡°......What time is it now?¡± Rey still maintained his lazy posture. Aster took a glance at the Circulum¡¯s clock and informed him the time.

    ¡°A little over two. Shouldn¡¯t you be starving as well?¡± Rey sluggishly got up from the chair and stepped into the diagonal, gradual staircase.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything in particular when I¡¯m focusing.¡± He activated his Circulum again, with the Travel app already on the screen, and clicked on the preset coordinates for the main entrance.

    <hr>

    ¡°Look, Rey, I apologize for not telling you that you need a permit to wander around the Academy from 8 in the evening till 8 in the morning. I thought you would know--¡±

    Rey rotated his body towards his back and knocked lightly on Aster¡¯s forehead with his knuckle. Aster blinked his eyes consecutively in a fast manner and his expression became puzzled as to what just happened.

    ¡°I¡¯m not mad at you, Aster. I just got a little annoyed because I didn¡¯t manage to clear this stage. Now that I¡¯m sure the Chamber of Discovery is one of the labs, we can clear at least the fifth stage by tomorrow¡¯s sunset.¡± He resumed his route to the cafeteria after finishing the sentence.

    After the duo went back to their room, Rey invited Eli to play an online game with him since he had nothing in particular to do.

    ¡°You seemed intriguingly surprised. I know how to relax through gaming too.¡± Rey threw himself on the couch, simultaneously enjoying Eli''s flabbergasted face. Nevertheless, Eli agreed and both of them get to their own desks, switch on their PC (the black box) and ran the game.

    ¡°Which world do you play in? Mine is D/I/E. I¡¯m a casual gamer, so don''t expect my character to be impressively powerful.¡± Rey typed in his username and password as he inquired.

    After a few minutes, their respective characters met each other in a public location within the same server.

    ¡°Rey, you said you are a casual player, right? Why do you have so much expensive cash items on you??¡± Eli''s jaw dropped hard. Those equipment were not only expensive, they were incredibly rare (limited time only).

    ¡°Hmm? These? I got them from other people. There are a lot of players that were easy to manipulate. Of course, they gave me those things willingly.¡± Eli was speechless. He had a vague guess that Rey could ''read¡¯ people, but who could''ve known Rey would use it in a game.

    They spent the next couple of hours doing random quests and raiding expedition bosses. Eli was a long term player, so he helped Rey catch up to his godlike level and explained a few new contents.

    ¡°Rey, do you want to try defeating the 16-player expedition boss?¡± Needless to say, that was what they did next. They gathered 16 players and they''re off.

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think my character resembles that character from a manga?¡±

    ¡°You mean that one where the MC and his friends were forced to go to the future to defeat crazy ESP users? And the MC can use some sort of dark colored, super strong material?¡±

    ¡°Ya, that¡¯s the one.¡±

    ¡°Could both of you stop talking and focus on the boss? We''re not going to win at this rate.¡± Eli rebuked in the party chat. This is why Rey normally doesn''t play these games. There will always be this kind of people in the community.

    <hr>

    ¡°Report.¡± Alan threw the gem up and caught it single-handedly when it fell down repeatedly.

    ¡°They are still in the fifth stage.¡± His henchman, Marty, a relatively tall dwarf, replied.

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. You and Neto can start thinking what to do to those three tomorrow. I expect you both to put up a good show.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry boss, we got this.¡± This time, he gripped the descending gem tightly and drew a circle on it. A string of binary codes swiftly flashed through the surface. It was 01001100 01100001 01110011 01110100 00100000 01010011 01110101 01110000 01110000 01100101 01110010 00100000 01010111 01101001 01110100 01101000 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01000100 01100101 01110110 01101001 01101100.

    ¡°Hmm. Interesting.¡± He grinned as his fingers danced gracefully on the holographic keyboard.

    <hr>

    ¡°Dammit! I was certain that House of Power was referring to a Source related field. Alright, Rey. You win the bet. Here''re your Units.¡± Aster brought up the Trade app and transferred five Units to Rey.

    ¡°I warned you not to make a bet with me, Aster.¡± Eli, oddly enough, expected Rey to smile smugly after winning the bet. He was wrong. Rey was as impassive as ever. Eli found it hard to grasp a pattern to Rey¡¯s reaction.

    ¡°Now, to the Seventh Ring.¡±

    The Deity of Luck smiled upon Rey as he effortlessly found the glowing ball of light hovering fifteen feet off the ground, within their eyesight.

    ¡°You should be thankful that the ball of light was outside the office, Rey.¡± Aster stood with arms akimbo, a large breath exhaled through his nose.

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe in luck, Aster. The gem must have known where its owner can or cannot go, just like what happened during the Chamber of Discovery stage. It probably has some algorithmic spells embedded to the gem.¡±

    ¡°I suppose I can¡¯t argue with that.¡± Said Aster while Eli recalled the episode when they noticed a section of the labs were closed off mostly because the Academy didn¡¯t want to leave any openings for thieves to steal rare materials. Rey eventually found the ball in an empty lab, not to mention in a stark spot too.

    ¡°Beholder of Greed.¡± Rey read it aloud for Eli and Aster to hear.

    ¡°I sure hope you won¡¯t be needing an extra ¡®Scanner¡¯ for the final stage.¡± He commented whilst Rey learned that their target was somewhere in the Second Ring.

    ¡°Second Ring.¡± Without communicating with each other, they transported themselves to the same study room within the library for their fifth visit.

    A couple of hours later, they were more exhausted than the past few days as they made their way back to the dorm.

    ¡°This is going to be a tough one, Rey. Virtually every club or guild in the Second Ring are all, one way or another, beholder of greed. What are we going to do, Rey? Rey? Are you listening?¡± He tried not to raise his voice too high or he¡¯ll disturb the other passengers.

    ¡°......I have to use the ¡®Sensor¡¯.¡± He announced quietly to his two friends stood beside him.

    ¡°Are you--¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t, Aster. Whatever you say will not change my decision. You don¡¯t have to worry, I learned a spell to slow the time of an item that could fit in my palm from one second to one-third of a second before coming here. Convenient timing? Yes. An Ex Machina? No. I taught myself this spell to avoid ice cream from melting too fast. If I hold the gem with both of my hands, the effect will multiply, giving me 90 seconds. There¡¯s one flaw to it, however. It drains incredible amounts of my energy. But, if the spell is coupled with my precise calculations, I shall be able to pinpoint the target, granted, if I¡¯m *grunt ¡®lucky¡¯ enough.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so awesome, Rey.¡± Eli had overcome his fear and uttered out his genuine thoughts.

    ¡°Of course I am.¡± He turned his head towards Eli and gave him a prideful smile.

    <hr>

    Aster helped open the door while Eli helped the fatigued Rey trudged his way to a nearby chair. Hinoko jumped down from Rey¡¯s shoulder as he slumped down on the chair in a worn-out manner. Through his Circulum, Rey commanded his Personal Dimensional Storage (PDS) to hand him his water bottle. A small cube detached itself from his waist and floated towards his hand. After it¡¯s in position, a water bottle appeared and maintained perfect balance on the small cube. Rey glugged down large amounts of water as soon as he opened the cover. He had to close his eyes due to the blinding sunlight.

    Aster and Eli stayed silence. There wasn¡¯t a need to say something that Rey don¡¯t already know. After a few minutes, Rey regained his ability to walk properly and they departed to continue their search once more. That is, until twenty seconds later Rey accidentally bump into a person.

    ¡°Hey! The hell are you doin¡¯?!¡± The person Rey bumped into roared at him as his companion on his left remained mute.

    ¡°Sorry.¡± Rey tried to get away but the person blocked his path and refused to let him go.

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going, huh?! You and I are going to have a little challenge. If you say no, I¡¯m going to beat you up real nice.¡± Obviously, Aster and Eli was not going to let the guy have what he wants, but his companion stopped them and gestured that if they make a move, he would attack them without second thoughts.

    ¡°Is this really necessary?¡± Rey¡¯s attempt to use an intermediating tone failed, his voice sounded weary instead.

    ¡°You think you can talk your way out huh boy?! Guess what? You¡¯re not!¡± On the challenge invitation, Rey saw the name ¡°Marty¡±. Rey found it pointless to decline the invitation after the threats had been given out.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to accept all my conditions for this challenge, or my partner here will beat the crap out of your friends!¡± Aster was on the verge to punch the tall and skinny elf in front of him, but the thought was washed away when he saw Rey signalling him not to cause any more commotion.

    ¡°Fine. Any challenge will do, just not physical battles challenge.¡± After hearing that, Marty¡¯s face had a grim grin. He instantly set the condition to win as ¡°The First One to Knock The Opponent Out Cold¡±. He also added his ¡®partner¡¯s¡¯ name, Neto, into the challenge, essentially making it a two-versus-one battle.

    ¡°You bastards. You better not take 1000 Units as your reward. I will tell the Enforcers about this.¡± Marty then proceeds to make the reward for the winner 1000 Units.

    ¡°You don¡¯t scare me, freshman. Now, press the ¡®Confirm¡¯ button or your friends get it!¡± With no better option at hand, Rey pressed the ¡®Confirm¡¯ button.

    It only took one second for the three of them standing to enter the Mirror Dimension and then came out with two of them lying down on the floor. Aster and Eli, with their mouths agape, were barely retaining their posture due to the unbelievable occurrence they just witnessed. Hinoko sauntered out the room they were in a minute ago and made its way to Rey¡¯s comfy shoulder again. Rey tickled her a bit before Eli said he needed to go to the toilet. He branched off from the team, leaving Rey, with Aster¡¯s company, to search nearly one hundred individual rooms.

    <hr>

    ¡°Do either of you care to explain what happened in the morning?!!!¡± Alan shouted at the two individuals before him.

    ¡°We have no idea as well, boss! The second after that brat press ¡®Confirm¡¯, we were knocked out instantly!¡±

    ¡°ARGHH!! Fuck!¡± His hand pushed his hair back as he turned his back to the two, ¡°If not for the both of you dimwits, they wouldn¡¯t have gone to the Consumer¡¯s Association and completed the seventh stage!¡± He then mumbled to himself for a few minutes before striding for his receptacle and took out a few items.

    ¡°This,¡± With one hand holding a ring between his thumb and index finger in front of Marty and another against his chest, ensuring the other larger items do not fell down, ¡°is a Briseur which forces your opponent to enter the Mirror Dimension with you. Until either you or your opponent is completely unconscious, you won¡¯t be able to get out. Remember to hold hands when using it, the both of you, or the one not using this Briseur is going to be left out. Take it." Marty received the ring and shoved it into his pocket.

    ¡°These,¡± He displayed two oddly-shaped guns, ¡°will make sure whoever got hit by its bullets won¡¯t be going anywhere for a few hours, no matter which part of the body was shot. It has a wide range and shoots automatically so long as you hold down the trigger, it also doesn¡¯t require reloading. Both of you will NOT be allowed to fail tomorrow. Understand?!¡± Both of them replied ¡°Yes¡± at the top of their lungs.

    ¡°Dammit. I would¡¯ve won by now if not for the stupid punishment that took away my Night Permit. Fuck!¡±

    <hr>

    ¡°Is Aster not joining us?¡± The both of them were leaving their room.

    ¡°He was summoned by Ada. She found evidence of Alan¡¯s hack into the system. Since Aster told her that he knew Alan had ill intentions towards me, she is using him as a witness to file a complaint against Alan. She knew about my challenge with Alan as well, which is why she called for Aster and not me.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± The two of them proceeded to skip breakfast in order to secure their victory. The duo made their way to the Academy as fast as possible. However, the moment they arrived at the other end of the express lane, two individuals had been waiting for them.

    ¡°We meet again, you little punk!¡± The time taken for Marty to point his finger at Rey was barely enough for Rey to hold Hinoko in front of him.

    ¡°Battle!¡± ¡°Rey!¡± The ring on Marty¡¯s index finger broke and Eli instantly disappeared. Neto released his grip with Marty¡¯s left hand and the two henchmen removed their gun from both of their waists.

    As soon as both of them pulled the trigger, Hinoko escaped Rey¡¯s hand and a huge chunk of flame burst out, not only neutralizing the bullets, but also confining the both of them within a circle of fire. As they were cursing and shouting, they could somewhat saw a blurry figure which resembled a young girl beyond the raging fire.

    <hr>

    ¡°Those idiots better get the job done.¡± Alan murmured to himself while exiting the room. When he entered the hallway and seek to advance towards the elevator, he saw Aster and Ada standing approximately one meter away from him.

    ¡°What the hell--¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Alan. You lose.¡± Aster pointed his index finger at the blonde in front of him. To Alan¡¯s horror, he saw a familiar ring on that very finger.

    ¡°Force!¡±

    ?End of Chapter 3?

    Advisor: Jigoku Shounen

 Aftermath

    Rey leisurely approached the gateway, attempting to leave the schoolground while inside the Mirror Dimension. As expected, he hit an invisible wall right at the border of the gateway. He removed the gem from his pocket and began searching for the final target, Threshold of Hell.

    The entrance Rey and his group passed through every day is known as the Gate of Hel. All the eight gates were named after their corresponding world (their original names) at each Cardinal Direction if seen from Speir, or Midgard.

    The world at North is Vanaheim, now commonly known as Zion. It was a world unknown to anyone as they would not let anyone in or out, no matter the reason. But of course, there are always exceptions. In the past, at least a hundred thousand years ago, a few carefully selected high ranking Angels, the citizens of Zion, often visited Speir to exchange knowledge. In this age, no one can tell whether or not they still do.

    At Northeast lies the world of Niflheim. There lives the Irregulars, beings that cannot be easily categorized by scholars. However, they still coexist with various familiar races. Niflheim and Speir have peaceful, diplomatic relationship, but the residents of Niflheim rarely visits The Floating World, unlike the adventure-driven people of Speir.

    Asgard, or Terra, is not much different from Zion¡¯s attitude of keeping its residents in and strangers out. However, there is still some major differences between those two worlds. Terra is essentially isolated from the larger realm by a strong force field, created by an unknown entity eons ago, hence explaining why nearly all of the natives know not of the larger realm. Since the force field is not impenetrable, travellers from various worlds have visited Terra in a discreet manner.

    In the Southeast, the world called Jotunheim, or Eintracht, shelters humongous beings such as giants and tiny races such as gnomes. The rarely communicate with the beings from outside world as they do not possess keen intellect. Nonetheless, there are groups that are willing to learn and establish mutual relationships with other worlds to further interests from both sides.

    The world located South to Speir is Hel, known also as hell or purgatory, supposedly home to the sinners. Not much can be told about them as they were even more secluded than Zion.

    Muspelheim, AKA Razerus, is occupied by all types of elementals. Only those who seek death would dare to enter the world of pure chaos and destruction. Still, there those who risked their life in order to further their knowledge about elementals or those who seek to capture the elementals and sell them to the highest bidder.

    At West, we have Myrkheim, or Tenebrae, which mostly consist of dark beings, such as dark elves and daemons. The residents do not possess evil hearts, but races from other worlds despise them and they are usually the root cause why beings of Tenebrae drown themselves in violence. The good news is, after millennia of laborious work to restore peace within the world, all tyrants controlling the land has been eliminated and no more overlords will ever appear again.

    The world populated largely by light beings and different types of elves, Alfheim, or well-known as Arcadia. Speir has a relationship with Arcadia that goes way back when, tens of millennia ago. Arcadia is a paradise which many people imagined it to be. The purpose of many beings within the world is to widen their range of knowledge in every conceivable field.

    Rey trod along the border with the gem in front of his eyes, hoping to elicit the gem to give off a reaction. When he reached the other end, he stopped and dawdled perpendicularly away from the gate. After he had satisfied with the distance between him and the gate, he aimed the gem at the gate, which fit right into the gem¡¯s surface. The sparkling gem slowly turned into an opaque, dark red stone with a few words that looked like it was carved on the rock. Rey didn¡¯t know that even in the Mirror Dimension the game can still go on.

    Rey strolled back to where the two minions were. In front of him was still a circular wall of fire, only it became higher and he could hear shouts coming from within the flames. He arrived beside Hinoko and commanded her to lower the height and intensity of the flames, but made the circle even smaller.

    As the flame subsided, Marty stopped shouting and jumping around while his partner drew closer to Rey and the little girl beside him silently. Marty hasn¡¯t given up on the mission entrusted to him from Alan, so he fired his gun and failed once again. His partner gestured him to come closer and halted his shootings. Marty was reluctant in the beginning but soon after, he surrendered, admitting to himself that it would be pointless to continue. He ceased his walking motion before hitting the fire wall and had a good look at the young girl.

    The girl was wearing a white hoodie with patterns of dancing flames and a pair of ¡®fox ears¡¯ protruding atop of her head. She had a short scarlet hair, opal coloured eyes which reflect her pure and innocent soul and other facial features that would make any adults scream the word ¡®cute¡¯. She wore a private school style miniskirt with the colours of black and grey along with a matching brown boot. She was one head shorter than Rey with a body shape of an average eight-year-old girl.

    ¡°Tell me how to get out--¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m telling you nothing!¡± Marty immediately interrupted Rey. Hinoko could felt anger bubbling up inside Rey. He absolutely hates to be interrupted.

    ¡°--or I can command my Kitsune here to burn you to a crisp and have your companion tell me what I want to know. After all, you don¡¯t die in the real world even if you are dead in the Mirror Dimension, but I bet it¡¯s going to be very painful. You have three seconds. 3.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wait! I¡¯ll tell you! Don¡¯t burn me!¡± Marty did a ¡®stop¡¯ gesture with both of his hand. Despite that, Marty was still hesitating whether or not if it¡¯s a correct decision to go against Alan.

    ¡°I already won the challenge with Alan.¡± He showed Marty the petrified gem as proof. Marty¡¯s expression undergo from horrified to...relief?

    ¡°Is that so? Alright, I¡¯ll tell you how to get out.¡± After Marty told him the only way out was to knock out the caster¡¯s opponent, Rey grinned devilishly at Marty. Marty, aware of his inescapable fate, decided to give up and let Rey do whatever he needs to knock himself out. So, Rey ordered Neto to hit Marty at the head, hard.

    All of them were pushed out from the Mirror Dimension. Alan¡¯s minions left while Eli hurriedly went to Rey¡¯s side. Hinoko had transformed back to her fox form before they exited the dimension.

    ¡°Did you complete the last stage, Rey? And what about the Briseur they used? Is it the illegal one Aster mentioned?¡± Eli asked.

    ¡°Yes. After that, the gem gave me a name. It wants me to find this person. And about the Briseur. Yes, it¡¯s illegal. Don¡¯t worry, they won¡¯t bother us anymore.¡±

    ¡°This person the stone wants you to find, do you know where to find him?¡± Rey answered his question by searching the name with the Academy¡¯s search engine. Eli distanced himself from Rey and called Aster so that he won¡¯t disturb his friend while two individuals sauntered past them.

    ¡°Have you read the manga I told you to? The one about a teenage boy with the ability to stretch his body like rubber?¡±

    ¡°Hmm? You mean the one that the protagonist wants to be the greatest pirate in the world? I haven¡¯t read it, it¡¯s too long.¡± Their voice disappeared as they stepped onto the express lane.

    <hr>

    ¡°What the hell?!¡± He yelled out angrily and partially confused at the same time.

    ¡°I found evidence of your hack into the dorm¡¯s system, Alan, and I¡¯ve filed a report against you. I¡¯m here to escort you to the Director,¡± Before Alan could think about whether he should escape from Ada, she continued, ¡°However, if you won against Aster here, you can request me to drop the entire thing and let you go immediately.¡± After Ada finished, Aster stepped forward and began entering the details of the challenge.

    ¡°Wait a minute. There¡¯s something wrong about this.¡± Alan put his left foot backwards, preparing himself to run. ¡°Why would the Director let you just drop the entire thing if I win? I don¡¯t recall him being this...nice.¡±

    ¡°I reported you to him, yes, but I didn¡¯t hand him the evidence yet. I am supposed to bring you to him within 15 minutes, together with the evidence. You know what he will do if we¡¯re late unless I told him that I couldn¡¯t find the evidence or you and tell him to just drop it. He¡¯s still busy with the paperwork, so I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll mind if I do.¡±

    ¡°...Fine! Whatever! Let¡¯s get this over with!¡± He definitely does NOT want to face the wrath of the Director.

    ¡°We¡¯ll play three rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissor. If I win, you¡¯ll obey Ada¡¯s orders for thirty minutes, just in case you try to run. If you win--¡± Aster was interrupted by the angry blonde.

    ¡°Ada will NOT report me AND she will obey MY orders for one hour.¡± His fingers moved swiftly on the holographic keyboard.

    ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯t cross the line.¡± Ada backed a few more steps away from them both.

    ¡°The same goes to you too.¡± He pressed ¡®Confirm¡¯ as soon as he keyed in all the necessary details. The screen disappeared and they both walked closer to each other.

    ¡°On go! 1, 2, 3, go!¡± And they flashed out their hand in one of the three patterns. Alan chose scissor while Aster chose paper.

    ¡°This is going to be easy.¡± They repeated the process for the second time. ¡°Dammit!¡± Alan rock, Aster paper. Then another round, ¡°Fuck!¡± Alan scissor, Aster rock. And one more, ¡°Yes!¡± Alan paper, Aster rock. A silent pause followed. Alan tried to predict Aster¡¯s next and final move, but it made his mind became even more chaotic when he saw Aster¡¯s bland expression, as there were nothing for him to analyze Aster¡¯s move.

    ¡°Hey, get on with it!¡± Ada said loudly.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± He turned his head to Ada and roared. He turned it back and began the final countdown, ¡°3! 2! 1! Go!¡± Aster won, obviously. Alan¡¯s body froze as the result screen appeared in front of Aster and Alan. A blue holographic collar showed up on Alan¡¯s neck.

    ¡°Okay, Alan, do not leave this floor until I tell you otherwise or you will be shocked by electricity until you faint, but not dead. Oh, don¡¯t harm Aster in any way too, or you¡¯ll also get yourself electrocuted until you black out. See you later.¡± She proceeded to prance forward at the direction of the elevator.

    Alan thought his heart would be filled with intense rage, instead, he felt that all of his energy was sapped away from his body. He fell down to his knees and slumped against the wall, sitting in a despaired manner.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t actually report you to the Director. Rey told us you would take the bait and ensure his victory.¡± Aster walked to the opposite wall and sat down while facing Alan.

    ¡°......So, this is all Rey, huh?¡± His voice sounded disembodied.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the time for you to explain what his plan was, like every time in the story when the bad guy lost? I don¡¯t have anything to do now, anyway.¡± He seemed to be recovering from his loss and started to smile.

    ¡°Okay? Before I start, I should inform you that Rey knew you sent two of your underlings to attack him,¡± Alan sat up and glared forcefully at him, ¡°And he wants me to tell you that he already prepared himself for it and you shouldn¡¯t be looking forward to your victory.¡±

    ¡°How--¡± He rose up to his feet, ¡°That son of a bitch!¡± He raised up his fist, attempting to hit Aster. But he recalled Ada¡¯s order and smashed his powerful fist against the wall behind him instead. He paced back and forth for a few minutes before stopping and returned to sit across Aster.

    ¡°Tell me,¡± He spoke with a slightly stifling voice, ¡°How did he know?¡± At this moment, a person suddenly plodded out from the closed door beside Aster. The female vampire stared curiously at both of them before power-walked away from them.

    ¡°Rey knew you, or rather your minions, would be surveilling us from the moment, or even before, you Force him into a challenge. He knew you would be constantly watching our every move, so he made sure you only see what he wants you to see.¡±

    ¡°Just get to the point.¡±

    ¡°During the first day of the challenge, he predicted you might send someone to physically damage the door in order to slow down his progress. He knows for certain that you wouldn¡¯t tell your underlings to hurt us substantially according to his observation on you, so it was easy for him to list out all the possible actions you might take.¡±

    ¡°How in the name of Aether could he possibly know about that?!¡± He jumped up and leered down at Aster.

    ¡°Maybe because he¡¯s some sort of genius? He didn¡¯t say anything about it, so I didn¡¯t ask.. It¡¯s also probably related to his Ingenium, but we¡¯ll get to that later. Please, sit down,¡± Alan wanted to yell at him even more, but decided to listen to Aster and bumped himself against the wall before sliding down to his original position, ¡°He knew what you were planning to do, so he casted a spell on the door. It¡¯s like a Source tracking device, it latches on to whoever close to it and it¡¯s weak enough to blend in together with background Source. After that, he would know exactly where those two were located.

    Rey deduced that you wouldn¡¯t do anything throughout the second and third day of the challenge because you would thought this could lower our defenses.¡± Upon hearing the previous sentence, Alan lowered his head and became ashamed for his lame strategy.

    ¡°Rey had me and Eli prepared for a few possible scenarios. However, he told us the most probable action your underlings will take is demanding Rey to engage in a challenge with them, no matter the means.¡±

    ¡°You wanna tell me how in the world did Rey take down both of my underlings in three seconds?¡± He forwarded his body in interest.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Aster saw Alan¡¯s doubt grew in his eyes, ¡°I swear. He didn¡¯t tell me. I was wondering about that myself too. Anyway, back to the challenge. He told us he has absolute confidence that he would win because he was positive that he could influence your minions with ease, which he did. Weirdly enough, he also said it would be advantageous to him if the challenge was a physical battle, to ensure we would not freak out and disturb him, despite the fact that he doesn¡¯t look like a fighter of any sorts.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    As a side note, Rey purposely stated that his time dilation spell would drain enormous amount of his energy. He knew that if he lied about it, your underlings would lower their guards and be even more prone to Rey¡¯s manipulation.

    He ordered Eli, after he won 1000 Units from your underlings, to go and buy a Force Briseur through a temporary link account he set up with Eli the night before. He knew your drones won¡¯t follow Eli because there wasn¡¯t any point in doing so and you couldn¡¯t¡¯ve know they set up the account because you wouldn¡¯t be able to hack the Academy¡¯s system even if you have the aptitude for hacking, which is why he let Eli buy the Force and secretly handed it to me during the ride back to the dorm.

    Thereafter, it was even easier for Rey to grasp what decisions you would make. There was a 100% chance you will once more send your minions to ambush Rey. As a counterattack, he sent me and Ada to trap you here today.

    The plan was originally for Ada and me to simply report and stall you as long as possible, but Rey didn¡¯t want his ¡®future underling¡¯ to get into any more trouble as it wouldn¡¯t do any good for him. The other reason this plan was abandoned because you would most likely to be desperate enough to ignore Ada and ran away. In the end, he decided to play a psychological game with you.

    After I use Force on you, Ada would tell you that she was going to bring you to the Director, exerting pressure on your mind and disrupt your mental thoughts. Right before you would consider escaping from the both of us, Ada would suggest you to accept my Force challenge and play three rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissor. You would most definitely choose the ¡®easy way out¡¯ that Ada presented you, rather than facing the Director, especially when you assured yourself that your minions¡¯ ambush will hold Rey longer than we could even if you lose.

    Rey was right about his predictions as you fell into his trap perfectly. Just so you know, I don¡¯t feel particularly good doing this, but since you¡¯ve been playing dirty from the beginning, I went along with Rey¡¯s plan. I don¡¯t want to see him become your underling.¡± Alan was speechless. As if it wasn¡¯t enough to make him feel terrible, it irked him, even more, when he recalled Rey has been telling him not to underestimate him.

    ¡°.....It¡¯s an elaborate plan alright. But, how did Rey instruct you and that Eli kid what to do without being noticed by my drones? Neither you or those brats could¡¯ve possibly used an encrypted frequency to communicate with each other without the drones caught any of it, even with the Academy¡¯s system. No, I don¡¯t believe you three have the capability to pull that off.¡±

    ¡°It was Rey¡¯s Ingenium. I don¡¯t exactly know how it works, but, basically, when he touched our heads, he could enter our mind and talk to us. Even though it felt like we were talking for ten minutes, not a single second passed when he deactivated his power. Which is why, on several occasions, he would touch his own head and spent many hours in his head, searching the correct answer to the hints while didn¡¯t waste any time at all.¡± As soon as he stopped speaking, a screen appeared in front of Alan with the word ¡®LOSE¡¯ on it. He sighed angrily for an unusually long time before closing the screen. A band of symbols surfaced on his wrist before vanishing.

    ¡°Tell me, what kind of person is Reynard Foxtale? I was busying with The Avarice Wisdom and so I don¡¯t have the luxury to watch your every movement through my drones. I would prefer to get to know my future *cough ¡®boss¡¯ better.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s...unpredictable at times. He often shows a cold attitude to me and Eli, but there were also times when he acted like we¡¯re his close friends, especially to Eli. He¡¯s cunning, no doubt, and he doesn¡¯t seem to like talking a lot. That¡¯s all I can tell you, for now.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you ashamed of yourself? A third-year following around a freshman like a dog? Don¡¯t you realize how he is using you without giving you any benefits? I don¡¯t see a clear reason why you would follow a brat that doesn¡¯t seem to give a shit about you.¡±

    ¡°Well, I am his guide.¡±

    ¡°Oh, come on. Seriously?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t really know. I guess he has a unique charm? I just have a feeling that if I stick with him, I could witness something marvelous.¡± Suddenly, Aster received a call. Using his finger which the Circulum rests, he roughly touched his left ear and mouth before answering Eli¡¯s call.

    ¡°Yes? ¡­Is that so? ¡­Okay, I¡¯ll meet you both there,¡± He laid down his hand and glanced at Alan, ¡°I got to go now. Eli told me that Rey will call for you when he decided what to do with you. Goodbye.¡± Aster stood up and walked away.

    After Aster had left his sight, he murmured to himself, ¡°I wonder if I can still keep my own underlings.¡±

    <hr>

    ¡°Professor Albert Quelle, huh? Never heard of this name. Supposed he really is a teacher in the Academy, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to find him before school officially starts.¡± Aster handed the red stone back to Rey. Rey shoved the stone back to his pocket and brought up the bookmarked profile to show Aster the result of his search.

    ¡°Well, well. He IS in the school.¡± The green circle beside the name indicates said person is within the schoolground. Rey touched the ¡®Current Location¡¯ bar on the screen and it responded by giving him a coordinate.

    ¡°First Ring, Section 6, Room 34-5.¡± In a blink of an eye, they arrived at their destination. Rey was about to go for the doorknob, but Aster blocked him.

    ¡°He¡¯s in Room 34-5, which means you need to use this,¡± He aimed his finger at a keypad beside the door, ¡°unless you want to spend additional time walking.¡± Aster pushed the number ¡®5¡¯ and a white coloured ¡®5¡¯ appeared on the screen above the keypad. The numbered turned green as he pressed ¡®Confirm¡¯ on the pad. To both Rey and Eli¡¯s surprise, they now heard the voice of a woman and a man speaking to each other behind the wall. Aster gestured Rey to enter the room before him and that is exactly what he did.

    Upon hearing the sound of the door being opened, the man behind a lecture station and the woman beside it turned their body instinctively to see who was coming through that door. Rey halted after a few steps into the room and began scanning the two individuals who were staring back at him.

    The man was around the age of twenty-five, had a short, dark grey hair and about 170 cm tall. He wore glasses of thick black frame, a fashionable collared shirt with different shades of blue, a navy blue jeans and a pair of red slippers. The lady, on the other hand, was around the age of eighteen. She had a long, light golden hair with a blue headband on it, wore a cream-coloured dress which made her looked nothing less than a graceful noblewoman despite its plainness and a pair of casual shoe. However, there was one thing peculiar about her, which was her closed eyes. She didn¡¯t open her eyes for even a single moment, yet Rey¡¯s analysis of her micro facial expressions suggested that she could see the three of them stepping into the room.

    When Aser realized who that lady was, his eyes widen and his jaws almost dropped. He quickly tapped the shoulders of Rey and Eli before bending down so that his head was in between theirs.

    ¡°You two, see that lady over there? She¡¯s the Vice President of the Student Council!¡± He whispered into their ears. For Eli, he immediately became nervous and tried to act normal; for Rey however, it didn¡¯t affect him in any way.

    ¡°Standing there won¡¯t help you three accomplish anything, you know? Come closer.¡± The man spoke. The three of them sauntered at the same pace towards the rather large station, and when they do, Aster was the first to greet the famous woman.

    ¡°Good morning, Miss Elizabeth and Professor Albert. My name is Aster, and these two here are Eli,¡± He patted Eli¡¯s head, ¡°and Rey,¡± then he patted Rey¡¯s head. The fox on Rey¡¯s shoulder made a sound, possibly wanting to be introduced as well. ¡°And the fox over here is Rey¡¯s Kitsune. Her name is Hinoko.¡± She then climbed to the top of his head and stood proudly. Aster put down his hands while Elizabeth walked closer to Eli.

    ¡°How cute,¡± She gently touched Eli¡¯s head as he blushed until his entire face became red. She removed her hand from his head before proceeding in her attempt to shake his hand. Eli shyly grabbed Elizabeth¡¯s soft hand and allowed her to shake their hands. ¡°Nice to meet you, Eli,¡± He nodded once but didn¡¯t say a word. He still aimed his sight on the ground due to his sheepish nature even after he let go of her hand.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Rey,¡± She shook Rey¡¯s hand, ¡°Congratulations for capturing the Circulum thief,¡± and let go of it after finishing her sentence. ¡°Thank you.¡± Rey bowed slightly at her. Aster was like =_= after witnessing Rey¡¯s humble attitude.

    ¡°So, why did you three came here?¡± When Albert attract their attention to him, he was changing the colour of a pair of crystal earring into dark blue. After was satisfied with his work, he handed it to Elizabeth.

    ¡°Here you go.¡± He placed the earring on her open palm.

    ¡°Thank you, Albert.¡± She then brought out a small box from her PDS, stored the earring into the box before inserted the box back to the PDS.

    ¡°We¡¯re here because of this.¡± Rey removed the red stone from his pocket and laid it in front of Albert.

    ¡°On top of solving the theft of the first year¡¯s Circulum, you even cleared The Avarice Wisdom. Truly impressive,¡± Said he, after taking a long glance at the stone, then at Rey, then back to the stone, ¡°I wonder if there¡¯s something inside this.¡±

    He put the stone beside a whiteboard, where the earrings were previously placed in the center. He wiped away the alchemical circle with his hand before he drew another much simpler circle with an odd, bulky marker. He placed the stone at the center of the circle after he had completed the drawing and a few words floated appeared on top of the stone.

    ¡°This...could it be...¡± He quickly removed the stone and erased the circle. He then proceeded to draw a new circle with his precise, swift and accurate movements. A mere minute later, a delicate and complex alchemical circle was completed, one that even Rey was fascinated by. After the stone was set in place, Albert activated the circle. The surface of the red stone was slowly turned to dust, essentially vapourising into the air. As its size gets smaller and smaller, everyone in the room was more and more excited to see what resides at the heart of the stone.

    ¡°This is...a Source stone,¡± A red, illuminating crystal with the size of a bean was all that remained of the stone, ¡°The legend was true, there IS a Source stone hidden within The Avarice Wisdom. You might be the first one ever to find it! Or it¡¯s just those who did find it said nothing about it since this can be sold for one hundred million Crowns, give or take.¡± Albert¡¯s statement blew Aster¡¯s and Eli¡¯s mind.

    ¡°One hundred million Crowns...That¡¯s...a lot of money.¡± Aster remarked in a shaking voice. If he had that kind of money, it could greatly improve the situation in his homeworld.

    ¡°Well, yeah. For a stone that is able to give off infinite amount of energy and Source, I think one hundred million Crowns would be an understatement, if not for its size and that this stone is fire-element based,¡± Aster heard rumours that most of the residents of Spier were rarely appealed by money, but to be this nonchalant about it is unheard of for him, ¡°Tell me, Rey, how did you know that this gem contains a Source stone?¡± And so, Rey narrated his experience during his time in the Room of Choice. He skipped some of the part to hide his Ingenium.

    ¡°Interesting. So, what are you going to do with this Source stone, Rey? Will you sell it? Or will you wield its power?¡± Rey answered his question by action. He ordered Hinoko to sit on the table while he grabbed something from his PDS. What he took out was an empty and transparent amulet. He took the stone, opened one end of the amulet and stored it inside. A few seconds later, the surface of transparent amulet with a stone that emits bright red light inside it became petrified with red and there were intricate engravings appeared on it. He put it around Hinoko¡¯s neck and let its fur shroud the existence of the amulet.

    ¡°You let your pet wear a Source stone on its neck?¡± Albert definitely didn¡¯t see that coming.

    ¡°Hinoko is not a pet, she is my familiar. Her affinity with the fire element will most certainly allow her to maximize the potential of the Source stone better than I can. Selling the Source stone would be an unwise decision as it would attract unwanted attention.¡± Hinoko hopped back to Rey¡¯s shoulder as he explained.

    ¡°Hmm. I suppose no one would suspect a familiar wearing a Source stone around its neck. Now that you have finished your business here, it would be fantastic if you all could leave the room right now. Not that I¡¯m trying to be rude, it¡¯s just that I still have a lot of things to do before school officially starts.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Professor Albert. Let¡¯s go.¡± Aster gently pushed Rey and Eli towards the exit, signalling them to promptly leave the room.

    ¡°Goodbye, Albert.¡± ¡°Until next time, Lady Elizabeth.¡± Albert winked at her before she also made her way to the exit behind the trio.

    ¡°Wait.¡± Said Elizabeth to prevent them from leaving after stepping out into the hallway. The three of them turned their backs and looked at her. Elizabeth ambled closer to Rey and Eli.

    ¡°Rey and Eli. Are the both of you willing to join me to attend The Banquet of Wunderkind this evening? It will be held in the Maze Field, between the Razerus Gate and Tenebrae Gate.¡± Aster¡¯s eyes almost popped out when she said that.

    ¡°I gladly accept your invitation, Miss Elizabeth.¡± Rey nudged Eli with his elbow after his sentence was completed.

    ¡°I..I..I would love to go to this banquet too.¡± Eli was so embarrassed about his stuttering he immediately covered his face with his hands as he blushed. Elizabeth chuckled.

    ¡°Might I ask why are we invited? And what is this banquet?¡± Rey asked.

    ¡°Every year, there will be freshmen that perform incredible feats during the first week. In order to help these students achieve greater heights, those who hold the title of President and Vice President, no matter what club or association they might be in, have to bring two freshmen of their choice to the banquet. As you had captured the Circulum thief within an hour a few days ago and found the hidden Source stone within The Avarice Wisdom, you are undeniably a suitable candidate.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thank you for your succinct explanation, Miss Elizabeth. I have yet another question, if you don¡¯t mind,¡± Elizabeth nodded, ¡°May I bring along Hinoko with me to the banquet?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you may. However, she must not stay on your shoulder as it might displease some of the other guests. Speaking of which, the both of you shall meet me at the Gate of Razerus before 8 o¡¯clock. The banquet has a strict formal dress code, I assume you both have the appropriate attire?¡± The two of them nodded, ¡°Very well. Goodbye, Rey, Eli, and Aster,¡± As soon as she stopped speaking, she brought up the ¡®Travel¡¯ app and teleported away.

    ¡°Aster, you might want to stop looking at the both of us like that,¡± Rey said annoyingly after he turned back and saw the goat-Demi bewildered stare.

    ¡°How can I not?! The both of you just got invited to one of the most prestigious banquets in the Academy anyone could dream of! And it was the Student Council¡¯s Vice President who invited you, no less! I¡¯m happy for both of you!¡± He hugged his two juniors tightly as soon as the last word came out from his mouth.

    ¡°Aster, you¡¯re suffocating me.¡± Eli protested. Aster let go the both of them, ¡°Sorry. I got a little too carried away. I am so proud of you both.¡± He couldn¡¯t let go the big smile on his face.

    ¡°But, why was I chose to go too? I didn¡¯t do anything special at all.¡± Eli felt slightly painful asking this question, but he really doesn¡¯t understand why he was chosen. Was it because he just so happens to be Rey¡¯s friend and was a freshman?

    ¡°You helped me, didn¡¯t you? If not for you, I wouldn¡¯t have caught Alan and successfully completed The Avarice Wisdom without major setbacks. Cheer up.¡± Then, Rey gave Eli a sincere smile, which caused him to blush yet again.

    ¡°Aster, could you tell me more about Elizabeth and The Banquet of Wunderkind?¡±

    ¡°To think the great Reynard Foxtale would ask me a question. I am honoured to answer you, my lord.¡± He bowed at Rey for several seconds after he ended his jest. Rey hit lightly on Aster¡¯s head, telling him to stop.

    ¡°Okay, okay. Elizabeth is the daughter of the famous Videre family, heard of them before?¡± Rey shook his head while Eli nodded. Aster was slightly surprised, but he continued nevertheless, ¡°The Videre family has the Eyes of Omniscient, which means they can¡¯t just open their eyes whenever they want or else they¡¯ll get blind from the power of the Eye, but they could see perfectly fine with their eyes closed, or so they said. She and the current President are one the youngest to ever hold their titles and they are, it goes without saying, very good at carrying out their responsibilities. That¡¯s pretty much all I know about her.

    As for The Banquet of Wunderkind, its history dates back to only one or two thousand years ago. A lot of protagonists from real life stories happened within the schoolground and geniuses always managed to bring themselves into the spotlight during the first week. The Academy realizes this and created this banquet. It would help the Academy to uncover even more students with potential for greatness and introduce said students to various professional they invited from the outside, with the hope that they would aid the development of the students¡¯ abilities even further. A lot of important people is going to be there tonight, so put up your best show, you two.¡± Aster winked.

    Later, Aster parted with the duo as he had some business to attend to and they went their separate ways. Since they had nothing to do for the next few hours, Rey, with Hinoko on his shoulder, and Eli visited various locations in the Academy by themselves.

    With the night approaching, they went back to their room and made preparation for the grand banquet. Unlike Rey, Eli knew how to apply makeup on himself and use a bunch of other stuff to make him more...seductive, or so Rey joked as he lazily dressed. In the end, Rey accepted Eli¡¯s help to make him more appealing.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± Rey and Eli now stood side by side in front of the station while facing the Razerus Gate.

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m, I¡¯m ready.¡± He was nervous to the point his hands were shaking and his voice trembling.

    ¡°Relax,¡± Rey hold the timid boy¡¯s hand tightly until the shaking gradually declined. Once Eli had calmed himself down, the impassive lad released his hand. Hinoko, with her fur groomed and preserved by a spell, let out an excited bark beside Rey¡¯s feet.

    The three of them then advanced towards the gate that would soon bring a momentum change to their lives.

    ?End of Chapter 4?

    Advisor: Jigoku Shounen

 The Wunderkind Banquet

    ¡°Ah, good to see you, Elizabeth. How¡¯s your life as Vice President of the Student Council going?¡± A young gentleman wearing a tophat greeted Elizabeth, who was wearing a white dress, as they shook hands.

    ¡°It¡¯s everything I could ever ask for, Mr. Grell. I hope you have a wonderful time.¡± They both released their hand and the gentleman ambled towards the express lane while adjusting his glasses and his red hair.

    At a distance, Elizabeth noticed two boys and a fox were headed for her. As they drew closer, she had a good look on those two individuals. The smoke-white haired boy wore a rather standard black suit and a grey tie while the brunette has a good eye for fashion, as seen by his selection of mahogany scarf, lavender coat, chestnut vest, white checkered shirt, navy jeans and a pair of black leather shoe.

    ¡°Good evening, Miss Elizabeth.¡± Rey put his right hand diagonally across his chest and bowed slightly. Eli mimicked Rey¡¯s actions and performed it perfectly because he was scared that he might do the wrong thing and make everything awkward. As for Hinoko, she just barked.

    ¡°Good evening to you too, Rey, Eli. Both of you look marvelous.¡± Rey noticed she was wearing the earring Albert handed to her.

    ¡°Thank you for the compliment, Miss Elizabeth.¡± This time Eli didn¡¯t say anything, he nodded instead. He was still too nervous.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She spun her body to face at the lane and walked towards it whilst the duo followed her.

    After they reached the other end of the lane, they saw a dark-skinned man standing not too far away from them staring at a screen. As they approached him, Rey recognized the race of said person, his eyes widen, and accidentally slipped his tongue.

    ¡°ÁúÄ§?¡± Even though the words were said by a very small voice, he still immediately covered his mouth, hoping the person didn¡¯t hear or understand what he said. However, it was unfortunate that the man, with horns protruding out from his head which grown horizontally, did hear and understand what he said and glared at him with piercing eyes.

    ¡°My apology.¡± Rey let down his hand and said. The individual closed the screen and glanced at Elizabeth, who was standing in front of him. She said ¡®Don¡¯t¡¯ without using her voice before his attention went back to Rey.

    ¡°Apology accepted, Reynard,¡± He shifted his attention back to Elizabeth, ¡°After all, I get that a lot from other people.¡±

    ¡°Does those ''other people¡¯ includes me? I am honoured, Damien. I truly am.¡± Her expression gradually turned grim.

    ¡°Is that so? You know, I remember that you were always delighted when someone approaches you and asks you to help them with that special eyes of yours.¡± Rey was initially feeling really terrible for that amateur mistake, but now his embarrassment was washed away and, together with Eli, his attention was drawn to Elizabeth and Damien¡¯s face-off.

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be? After all, helping those in need is a right thing to do. Speaking of which, I should thank you for forgiving Rey due to your unconditional kindness.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m flattered. But, you sure know how to choose, Elizabeth. A young detective that cracked the Circulum theft case through a series of coincidences and his timid sidekick as your candidate.¡± He grinned.

    ¡°Now, now. Let¡¯s not just focus on them. What about your candidates? They¡¯ve seemed to be late for this once-in-a-lifetime banquet that only the best would be chosen to attend. With that kind of attitude, I¡¯m afraid you made a bad choice.¡± She rejoined.

    A fearful silence followed. Both of the young boys could sense the two mature teenagers spewing their anger at each other childishly. In the end, it was the daemon that broke the hush.

    ¡°I should introduce myself to you two. My name is Damien Teufel, President of the Student Council. What I said wasn''t meant to offend you,¡± He said while aiming his eyes at Rey, then he switched his attention back to Elizabeth, ¡°And now, please leave. I still have plenty of work to do.¡±

    ¡°If you had let me win the election, you wouldn''t need to deal with all this.¡± She was clearly mocking at him.

    ¡°I don''t have time to deal with you anymore. Leave me.¡± He brought back the screen and continued his work.

    ¡°I assume I would be expecting a retaliation later?¡± She asked as she gestured the duo to follow her.

    ¡°You won''t be disappointed.¡± She caught his warning and sauntered towards the concrete pavement branched off to the left from the main lane and into the banquet.

    Even though there were no walls obscuring the banquet, Rey could only see a blurry vision of the people and the lights. He came to a conclusion that it must be some sort of illusionary, magic barrier to prevent long distance attacks towards the guest. They soon came to a stop as there were two guards standing beside the entrance. Elizabeth confirmed her identity and the identities of her candidates with the guards and they¡¯re in.

    Rey was impressed by the scenery when he went through the entrance. Directly in front of him was a horizontally long and wide table with lots of exquisite and delicious looking food on it. Between the hedge maze at the very far left and the guests were chatting with each other in a large, open field beside the table, lies many elegant and delicate topiaries. On Rey¡¯s right were a bunch of big, round tables with alluring tablecloths and beautifully crafted chairs. Balls of light were floating in the air all over the venue and so does the charming decorations. There¡¯s a guard in between every few feet across the entire perimeter but no weapons were seen on them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get us some food.¡± Elizabeth proposed. It was a bit...weird for her to speak in such a way, at least that¡¯s what Eli thought.

    ¡°You have quite the relationship with the President, Miss Elizabeth.¡± Rey gave in to his curiosity as they made their way towards the food table.

    ¡°Just Elizabeth will do, Rey. Yes, Damien and I are not in good terms. After all, from the moment we joined the Student Council, we have been fighting with each other to climb to the top. Partially because I was born into a prestigious noble family, that drove me to achieve an influential position within the Academy. However, I never understood Damien¡¯s motive to strive for the position of President. Perhaps it¡¯s because of his past, but I considered looking into his background as a foul tactic, so I stopped finding the answer I¡¯m looking for.¡± In front of them was a stack of marble plates with artistic patterns etched on the white background. Once they touched a plate, it would hover beside them and follow them wherever they go.

    ¡°In my opinion, having a rivalry relationship may urge both sides to push their limits and achieve greater heights,¡± Rey remarked as he placed a piece of pizza on his plate. Eli was disappointed by the organiser¡¯s choice of food because he expected this to be a real formal banquet. But, seeing that this banquet was mostly held for 13 years-olds, he wasn¡¯t bothered about it.

    ¡°Perhaps you are correct. Though I must say that I enjoyed ridicule him as much as he does. Shall we go to a quieter place to finish our meal?¡± And that was the temporal end to their conversation. They searched for empty tables near the border and they found one that was secluded and small enough to fit the three of them. Rey brought an additional plate for Hinoko to put her food on.

    ¡°What do you wish to become in the future, Rey, Eli? It¡¯s a fairly important question in this banquet.¡± She asked right after the duo had cleaned up their plates.

    ¡°A Solver.¡± Rey¡¯s answer was swift and short.

    ¡°I was certain you were going to say, detective.¡± She was curious about his answer. A Solver is much alike to a detective, but it is still fundamentally different from it. One who chooses this occupation must have a wide range of knowledge and has to be essentially a Jack-of-All-Trades.

    ¡°The cases detective works on are simply too predictable. No matter what crime is committed, it will, one way or another, involves the most general form of the seven sins. Rarely there are cases that are out of the norm. But the cases presented to a Solver is much more diverse, despite the low frequency of clients. I plan to create an agency of sort if I fail to find an association which would accept a Solver and distributes a fair amount of odd cases to me.¡± He took a sip from his glass cup after the last word came out from his mouth.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then you are in luck, Reynard. There is one particular organisation within the Academy that would suit your requests. I¡¯ll introduce you to its President if we came across him later.¡±

    ¡°You have my thanks, Elizabeth.¡± Hinoko peeked back at her master and saw him grinning at her.

    Eli gulped hard. It¡¯s his turn next. It was a bad idea for him to come after all. It¡¯s not like he doesn¡¯t know what he wants to do, it¡¯s just that it would probably sound absurd.

    ¡°What about you, Elliot?¡± Her soft smile melted away all his anxiety. He took a deep breath and let it go.

    ¡°I...want to be a therapist. But...at the same time, I...also want to be a magic and¡­alchemical healer.¡± It was the healer part he doesn¡¯t want to mention the most. The reason behind it was kinda dumb. In online games, he often plays the role of the healer because everybody needs one but nobody wants to play as one and it made him felt that he was...significant. Of course, there are also reasons such as every time he saw someone got hurt, he has a strong feeling compelling him to mitigate their pain. He was pretty sure that doctors couldn¡¯t do what he imagined healers could and, likewise, he found that doctors are too boring, so he chose healer instead.

    ¡°It¡¯s common for the Academy¡¯s students to have two interests at once, so don¡¯t worry about it. Besides that, I think you are very suitable to be both a therapist and a healer.¡± She activated her Circulum, pressed the ¡®Notepad¡¯ app and began writing. Ten seconds later, she sent the note she wrote to Eli¡¯s inbox.

    ¡°On the note I sent you contains a few professors¡¯ name. If you were to attend their classes, I am confident that they would be a great help to your studies. Have no fear, their teaching methods are, without a doubt, compatible with your personality.¡± She smiled.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± He almost teared up. He never imagined he could be so blessed before he enrolled into the Academy.

    ¡°You¡¯re so adorable, Eli.¡± Said she before chuckling. Eli blushed slightly as a response, which made him cuter, even though his attire was supposed to make him look handsome.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for us to meet some people. Follow me.¡± The three of them got up in unison. Elizabeth then took them to meet a few influential individuals and introducing them to any other associations¡¯ President and Vice President they encounter, which was an excruciating and boring journey for Rey. At one point, he focused on the conversation occurring behind him.

    ¡°Did you saw that guy with the tophat? He kinda looks like one of the characters in a manga. The one where the protagonist is a kid and he has demon butler.¡±

    ¡°Is it the one that the protagonist is also a noble where he accepts dirty, secret missions from the queen of his country?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± Eventually, they moved on to the next person finally met the guy Elizabeth mentioned.

    ¡°Ah, Elizabeth, nice to see you. We haven¡¯t met with each for quite some time.¡± The man hugged Elizabeth as his form of greeting. When he let goes of Elizabeth and contemplating Rey, Rey had his chance to do the same. The suave man in front of him had goldenrod coloured, thick, disheveled hair with fringes covering his forehead and a pair of crystal eyes of a mix colour between blue and purple. He¡¯s around 180 cm tall, has a rather compact and muscular body, which made him irresistible when coupled with his ¡®bad boy¡¯ apparel.

    ¡°Good to see you still in high spirits, Arthur. I expected your immense workload would¡¯ve wipe away that smile of yours.¡± She jested.

    ¡°You underestimated me, Elizabeth. I didn¡¯t spend years under Yoro-Sensei for nothing, you know?¡± He then shifted his attention to Rey and pointed at him, ¡°You wanna tell me who are your candidates? Or do I need to take a guess~?¡± He retracted his finger.

    ¡°Oh no. You¡¯re not showing off your annoying tricks again,¡± She patted Rey¡¯s shoulder with his right hand, ¡°This is Reynard,¡± then she patted Eli¡¯s shoulder with his left, ¡°And this is Elliot.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Reynard, Elliot. My name is Arthur and I, am the President of The Analytical Mind. Heh, it¡¯s not a great name, I know, but it suits the agency.

    The purpose of The Analytical Mind is to provide services that require extensive knowledge and intelligence. Basically, it¡¯s just a group of smartasses,¡± Elizabeth chuckled, ¡°accepting requests from other people that they can¡¯t or too lazy to deal with. We have Fixers, Detectives, Solvers, Investigators, Mediators, Analysts and a few more with confusing names to take on any and all problems the students of the Academy have.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    So, whaddya say, Reynard? Do you want to become Solver under The Analytical Mind?¡± Elizabeth sighed, Eli gawked, unable to quite comprehend what just happened, and Rey...he was impassive as always.

    ¡°Wonderful! Just what I had expected. I watched the video sent by one of the members, the one where you confronted Alan, and it was obvious that I need you to be the latest addition to the big family. Sadly, as much as I want to tell you all about my agency, I have a matter to discuss with Elizabeth. Meet me next Sunday, 8.30 in the morning, at Second Ring, Section 8, Room 90-1. I¡¯ll explain everything in details there. Now, please excuse us.¡± He tried to direct Elizabeth away to a crowdless location.

    ¡°Where''re your candidates? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re lazy enough to not find any and still come to the banquet.¡± She did a ?_? expression at him.

    ¡°My, my. Did Damien pissed you off this much?¡± Arthur pointed his finger at the maze¡¯s direction, ¡°They¡¯re sitting on a bench beside the manticore topiary. I¡¯m sure they will be delighted to meet you, Reynard. I¡¯ll introduce you to them later, Elizabeth, if you want to meet them. Tata.¡± Both of them strode away immediately, leaving the duo and a Kitsune behind.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it, Eli. I¡¯ll explain it later.¡± Rey understood that Eli has a tendency to try and make sense the things that baffled him, as seen from his facial expressions and body movements, despite the answers never came through him and would only increase his anxiety. But, Rey¡¯s reassurance would always magically dispel those thoughts and pacify the cacophony of his mind. Anyhow, they followed the directions given by Arthur and found his candidates some minutes later.

    ¡°Hallo! I saw you talking to Arthur, what¡¯s yer¡¯ name?¡± The boy who asked the question had a bowl cut, black hair and a pair of squinty eyes. He¡¯s around the same height as Rey and he wore a quaint suit with a tie, and a polo shirt under it.

    ¡°My name is Reynard and my companion right here is Elliot.¡± The squinty eyes boy was standing a little further from an ornate stone bench, where a girl with blank expression was sitting on.

    ¡°Call me Oliver! And this girl behind me is Eve! Nice to meet ya!¡± He shook the duo¡¯s hand fervently. He also forcefully rubbed Hinoko¡¯s head before withdrawing himself due to her clear intention of biting his hand.

    ¡°That¡¯s a nice Kitsune you got there. What¡¯s the name?¡± He¡¯s wacky smile made Rey felt uncomfortable.

    ¡°Her name is Hinoko, and please, don¡¯t touch her anymore.¡± Hinoko hid behind her master¡¯s leg while she growled with a deep voice.

    ¡°Okee Dokee! Say, what did you do to get chosen, eh?¡± Seeing as Oliver was focusing on Rey, Eli made his way to the bench and sat on the other end of the bench, awkwardly. He didn¡¯t consider to talk to the girl but he did glance at her a few times. Her face was pale, might as well had chiseled out of marble, her hair was long and pink in colour, and her clothes were a little inappropriate for the event.

    ¡°I caught a thief. He was stealing Circulums from newcomers in my dorm and I stopped him before he could get away with it. What about you?¡±

    ¡°My story is a bit long, but let¡¯s just say that I got luckyyyy. I was drawing some alchemical circles and performing rituals with it when Arthur just so happen to pass by. He was impressed and he chose me on spot, along with my girl friend over here because she was helping me at that time too.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Oliver immediately stopped his odd hand gestures and his smile faded away. He squinted his eyes even more and peered at Rey with suspicion.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious what kind of circle I drew? Arthur is not a person to be impressed easily, you knoooow?¡±

    ¡°I am aware of that. It was needless to say you must have shown your ability to create a circle of at least A-rank, which is quite impossible for a 13-year old to do.¡±

    ¡°Wow! You¡¯re right! No wonder you got chosen by the Vice President of the Student Council! You must be very smart!¡±

    ¡°I could say the same for you too.¡± Rey was getting really annoyed by this eccentric character; he even started to dance, worsening the supposedly emotionless boy¡¯s mood.

    ¡°Rey, is it?¡± He turned to his back and identified the man that called out his name as Damien, alongside his candidates, ¡°Where is Elizabeth? Is she with Arthur right now?¡± Despite his tone, he doesn¡¯t seem to be in a hurry.

    ¡°He took her to somewhere around that spot,¡± Rey gave him the direction with his finger, in which the daemon replies, ¡°I see. Jack, Emily, both of you stay here until I get back.¡± Both of his candidates took a few step forward, then the boy swerved to his back and said, ¡°Roger that,¡± before Damien ran away.

    ¡°Hallo! My name is Oliver, and this right here is Reynard! Nice to meet ya!¡± He stretched out his hand to the guy flabbergasted by his enthusiastic greeting whilst the girl silently plodded towards the bench and sat right in the middle.

    ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Jack. Nice to meet you both.¡± They both shook hands while Rey studies the other candidate before him.

    The first thing that pops into Rey¡¯s head is that Jack looked like he came out from a shounen manga. Pointy azure hair, muscular body with a white tuxedo on it, and a sword wrapped up in white bandages levitating across his back.

    ¡°Why do you have a sword floating behind you Jack? Are you some sort of hero?¡± The eccentric kid asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not? I carry this sword on my back is because I¡¯m afraid someone might steal it. It¡¯s very precious to me, after all.¡± It was apparent to Rey that he wasn¡¯t a fan of Oliver.

    ¡°Or is it because you¡¯re scared bad guys will pop out of nowhere and you need to be prepared for battle! Aha!¡± He started swinging his imaginary sword at the air.

    Interesting, Rey thought to himself. He managed to catch Jack¡¯s micro expressions after Oliver said that sentence, and it revealed to him that the ¡®hero¡¯ was indeed carrying his sword to fend off any surprise attacks.

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry about that! I heard it from Arthur that it happened a few times after the banquet was created. Sadly enough, there were no more chances for protagonists to have their heroic battles here and show off their might to propel the plot because the security was so tightened up that even bugs couldn¡¯t make it through. So sad!¡± Jack looked at Rey and Oliver in a daze, which Rey responded by shaking his head slightly, signalling him to ignore the odd kid.

    ¡°Erm, how did you two get chosen, if you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡±

    ¡°I caught a thief.¡± ¡°I drew an awesome alchemical circle at the right place and at the right time.¡± He winked and did a horizontal peace hand sign beside the unclosed eye, ¡°What about you, what did you dooo?¡±

    ¡°I..uh...It¡¯s a long story.¡± He regretted asking that question.

    ¡°Lemme guess...You fight a bunch of bad guys, saved some people and the President of the Student Council was just so happened to be there as well.¡± Jack was obviously taken aback by Oliver¡¯s words, which means,

    ¡°I guess...you could say that.¡± There it was, the awkward smile.

    ¡°AHA! I was right! You ARE a hero, like the ones from the stories!¡± He started dancing as if he hit a jackpot.

    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you having a blast, Oliver?¡± Arthur showed up quite far behind Rey with Elizabeth and Damien following him, their expression foul. The three candidates, as a reaction to Arthur¡¯s sudden voice, directed their attention to the man, ¡°But, too bad for you, we gotta go. The three of us got a little something to work on, so we¡¯re going back early, and that includes Reynard and Jack too.¡± Rey noticed Jack wasn¡¯t surprised by this and so he rapidly examined the three young adults to guess what was going on.

    ¡°Awww. I want to talk to my new friends a little longeeeer. But I¡¯ll follow anything you say, Arthur.¡± He beckoned Eve to go along with Arthur¡¯s decision.

    ¡°Well then, it¡¯s been a pleasure of meeting you all, especially Reynard,¡± They both glanced at each other, ¡°Goodnight, everyone,¡± Then he took his leave together with his candidates.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be going as well. See you on Monday, Elizabeth. I enjoyed the conversation we had just now.¡± Before Damien¡¯s team managed to leave, Elizabeth gave him a witty comeback, ¡°Is that so? Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll have plenty of those for at least the entire year. Goodnight Damien.¡± They both grinned at each other before he left.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Elizabeth said. The duo followed her without making any inquiries. Hinoko let out a disappointing growl because everyone basically ignored her, except for that annoying Oliver. None of them said a word until they reached the titanic gate.

    ¡°The conversation you had earlier, with Arthur and Damien, is it related to Jack?¡± Rey could make out the figures boarding the train were Damien¡¯s team.

    Elizabeth turned her head slightly at Rey before returning it to its original position few seconds later, ¡°I can¡¯t tell you about it.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to since you just confirmed my guess. I know what you¡¯re going to say. You don¡¯t need to worry, my lips are sealed tight.¡± Elizabeth¡¯s words were on the tip of her mouth before she swallowed it back down. She let out a sigh instead before they stopped in front of the station.

    ¡°You¡¯re almost a spitting image of Arthur when he was younger. He always managed to find out secrets hidden by other people or said their thoughts out loud.¡±

    ¡°...Is this a compliment?¡± The train arrived at lightning speed and without warning before it stopped in front of them.

    ¡°That depends on the motivation that drives you to become a Solver.¡±

    <hr>

    ¡°A daemon is a demon¡¯s half-blood descendant. Just like elves, if they copulate with other species, the attributes of those species will be inherited by their child. However, the difference is that a demon¡¯s blood will never thin out. For example, if a demon copulates with a dwarf and their child copulates with a higher-cat Demi, the grandchild will not have the dwarf''s blood flowing in them, instead, he or she will have the blood of a demon and the blood of a higher-cat Demi.

    The point is, ÁúÄ§, or dragon-daemon is insanely rare, thus the reason my tongue slipped yesterday.¡± When they went back to their room last night, they were downright exhausted. Both of them seldom attended banquets or anything like it in the past due to their introverted personalities, and so their energy was drained dry. Now that they¡¯ve woke up, ate their breakfast and returned to their room, Eli threw the first question to Rey related to yesterday¡¯s event.

    ¡°Oooh.¡± Rey was sitting on his chair facing Eli who was sitting on the couch. The smoke-white haired boy almost wanted to ask his roommate why didn¡¯t he knew something everyone learned from primary school before realizing he evidently has some secrets tied to it, ¡°But, how do you know he is a dragon daemon? Wait, this means that his mom or dad is a dragon! That¡¯s so cool,¡± His eyes glinted with awe.

    ¡°I recognized his horn and eyes from a book I read before.¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­¡­What about that time when Arthur somehow knew you were planning to become a Solver and said ¡®Just what I expected¡¯ when you didn¡¯t say anything? I really don¡¯t understand.¡± His puzzling face was the second cutest expression he could make, at least that¡¯s what Rey thought.

    ¡°You remember what Elizabeth said yesterday in front of the station?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I remember.¡±

    ¡°Me, and Arthur, have incredible observation skills. We can see even the smallest detail normal people would easily gloss over. And from those observations, we can make deductions about a person¡¯s habits or their thoughts. It¡¯s not as easy as it sounds. I spend an enormous amount of time honing my skills and learning a wide range of ¡®stuff¡¯ to make sense or even detect the things I see. This is why Arthur said what he said, he knew that I know about his ability and knew that I know that he knows I have the same skills as well.¡±

    ¡°Ughh. That last sentence makes my head dizzy, Rey.¡±

    ¡°Damien and Elizabeth has this skill as well, though not very well developed. It¡¯s not much of a surprise, seeing that their jobs require them to interact with people every day.¡± A hush filled the room. It was apparent that Eli still has some doubts.

    ¡°But...it still doesn¡¯t make any sense. Arthur said he knew the entire process of you confronting Alan, but shouldn¡¯t he had guessed that you want to be a detective than a Solver, like Elizabeth did? You said he could observe the small details on people, but can it really helps him to know that you want to be a Solver even though, you, err, didn¡¯t, uhm¡­.¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. There¡¯s more to it. There are individuals who could see a person¡¯s aura, or some might say the soul. I prefer the definition of the aura as ¡®an expression made by the soul¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Woah.¡±

    ¡°There are many ways to allow yourself to perceive these auras and there are a lot of people who can do that. But, not everyone can correctly interpret the meaning of a person¡¯s aura. The aura displays a person¡¯s current state of mind, for example, when someone is calm, their aura perfectly covers the person¡¯s body without any distortions; or when a person is scared, their aura will shrink.

    However, what I just mentioned does not apply to everyone. Like, when a person is crying, you would expect the aura to be all wobbly, although the reality could be that the aura became very ¡®stable¡¯. Maybe because for that person, crying allows them to recover themselves to their normal state rather than a mean to exhibit their sadness.¡±

    ¡°Then, does the aura have colours?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But, don¡¯t bother to ask me what is the colour of your aura, because it will change to accommodate your current mood,¡± Eli showed Rey his irresistible cute puppy eyes. He sighed and continued, ¡°If you really want to know, it just changed from purple to green.¡± Eli then puts up a big smile.

    ¡°So...what you¡¯re saying is that, Arthur, through his super observation skill and his ability to ¡®read¡¯ a person¡¯s aura, can tell what your personality is? And eventually came to the conclusion that you want to be a Solver and not a detective?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Or maybe, he was just lucky enough to overhear us talking about it? There were a lot of people walked past us.¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t. Anyone that have the ability to approximately interpret the meaning of the aura can tell if he or she met another one like him, or her. Don¡¯t ask me how, it cannot be described through words.¡± The doorbell suddenly rung a few times. Eli got up and walked up to the door to see who¡¯s outside. He opened the door when he saw it was Aster.

    ¡°Howdy!¡± He ambled inside and the door closed. He and the brunette proceeded to sit on the couch, ¡°How was yesterday? Did you guys met famous people?¡± He was really excited to know.

    ¡°I met the President of The Analytical Mind. He wants to meet me next Sunday, probably offering me a position in his agency.¡±

    ¡°Hohoho! You are one lucky devil! I heard Arthur was incredibly hard to impress. Last year, only TEN applicants out of thousands were chosen to be an official member, or at least that¡¯s what others said. Anything else happened?¡±

    ¡°Only those that would bore you,¡± Rey replied lazily.

    ¡°If you say so. So, have you guys choose your courses?¡± The both of them said, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Luckily I brought it up then. But, since we were spending nearly the entire week completing The Avarice Wisdom, I¡¯m afraid a lot of time slots have been taken. Sit beside me, Rey. I¡¯ll show you both how it¡¯s done.¡± Rey followed his instructions and sat on the spot right to Aster while Hinoko jumped up to her master¡¯s lap and slept on it.

    ¡°One more thing before we start. Later in the afternoon, I¡¯ll take you two to get the Night Pass. You¡¯ll need to do some tests to get one. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not very hard. Okay, now then, please activate your Circulums and press the ¡®Curriculum¡¯ app.¡± Aster began to explain the basis of the app.

    ¡°......Oh and, because you guys are newcomers, you¡¯ll have to take a test in every subject you chose to see how much mastery you have over the subject. After that, you¡¯ll unlock these options...¡± It goes on for about ten minutes. Eli could never imagine that choosing a subject he wants to study is so complicated in the Academy. There¡¯s almost an option for every single variation anyone could possibly think of.

    ¡°......That¡¯s about it. If you¡¯re still unclear about something, just press the ¡®Help¡¯ button. Now that I¡¯m done explaining, I want to ask you both a question. What do you guys want to become? Eli?¡±

    ¡°I..uh..want to be a therapist and a magic or alchemical healer, or both. I¡¯m not very sure about it yet, to be honest.¡± He felt more comfortable telling it to a friend.

    ¡°Not bad. Even though Spier has advance medical care for physical health, they didn¡¯t put much attention on mental health,¡± He shifted his head from looking at Eli towards the direction in front of him, ¡°Well, probably all the worlds have the same problem. Except for Zion, of course. What about you, Rey?¡± He turned his head towards Rey and he saw him selecting a dozen of courses, ¡°A Solver.¡±

    ¡°...Dude, I know that Solvers need a wide range of knowledge, but what you¡¯re doing here is overkill,¡± Rey ignored him and kept adding more courses into the list, ¡°Seriously, Rey, just because you can choose whatever subject you want without a limit doesn¡¯t mean you should take all of it in one go,¡± He peeked at his junior¡¯s selection: modern and traditional magic, physics, psychology, Ingenium mastery, wing chun and lots more. Aster gave up trying to convince him.

    ¡°What about you, Aster? What do you study?¡± Asked Eli.

    ¡°How to be the best king in the world! Hahaha!¡± He raised up his fist as he spoke, gave the brunette a wink and a playful smile before putting his hand down and selected the ¡®Television¡¯ app on the Circulum¡¯s screen, ¡°I wonder what show is on right now.¡±

    ?End of Chapter 5?

    Advisor: Jigoku Shounen

 First day in the Academy

    ¡°Welcome, aspirants. Today, all of you present in this classroom shall take an evaluation test to see how much do you understand about magic. Remember, this is an assessment of your knowledge, not a competition. Cheating will not help you in any way, so please keep in mind that you have to answer truthfully. Your results will not be used to judge you, rather it will assist the Academy to understand how to maximise your ability to learn. You may begin by pressing ¡®Start¡¯ on your desk.¡± The voice vanished and the classroom went back to silence. Rey touched ¡®Start¡¯ once his desk has analysed his Circulum, confirming his identity, on his finger lying down on the surface.

    ¡°#Q1 What is magic?¡± The text appeared on the screen above the desk and in front him. Rey swiftly typed out his shortest definition for the word.

    ¡°Magic is the study of the utility of Source (on in this context, Mana), predominantly in the form of spells.¡± He hit enter and the second question rolls in.

    ¡°#Q2 What is Source? What is the difference between Mana and Source?¡±

    ¡°Source is the ¡®energy¡¯ which flows through everything on this planet, but some say it¡¯s a gift bestowed by Aether, Gaia, and Pontus. The difference of Mana and Source is simply a matter of context. The word ¡®Source¡¯ was coined during the dawn of The Great Age of Technology when scientists saw the potential of Mana, the original term for the ¡®energy¡¯, can be used not only in magic, but as another ¡®source¡¯ of energy to power their newly invented devices.

    Source is used when we are referring it as a type of energy and Mana as the ¡®energy¡¯ stored within our body to be utilized by magic.¡±

    ¡°#Q3 Please write a short summary to explain what is Mana density and how it affects a mage¡¯s spell.¡±

    ¡°Mana density is a measurement of the intensity of Mana resides within a person, an object or an area. The higher the Mana density, the more powerful a spell will become.¡±

    ¡°#Q4 What are spells? What is the difference between traditional spells and modern spells? Please give a short summary of both types of spells.¡±

    ¡°Due to the nature of Source, or Mana, that has the capability to alter the fabric of reality, spells were created as a mean to manipulate this power. Despite the differences between traditional spells and modern spells, both of it have the same origin.

    Traditional spells are the languages of Deities, spiritual beings worshipped by people who believe it controls or exerts force over some aspect of the world. Some of those Deities, after being worshipped thousands of years and have amassed incredible amounts of believers, would descend into the material world and teach the worshippers their language. However, there were significant limitations. The time to learn the languages of every single Deities who were willing to share their knowledge is simply too long and each Deity only has a single particular ability. Thus, modern spells were born.

    Modern spells came into existence when a group of scholars gathered all the spells they could find and breaks it down to their constituents. Then, they invented ¡®spell programming¡¯ by combining those broken down parts and string them together into codes before translating it to their own language. This way, they don¡¯t need to spend most of their lives learning the languages of different deities and worshipping them with their heart and soul.¡±

    ¡°#Q5 Please list out all known traditional spells.¡± Rey typed it all out in an incredible speed while ensuring the students beside him won¡¯t be able to have a look at it. ¡°#Q6 Please list out all known modern spells.¡± He pressed skip.

    ¡°#Q7 What is a grimoire?¡±

    ¡°It is a tome which contains all the spells learned by a mage. With a grimoire (in the context of traditional spells), mages can easily invoke their spells by chanting a part of it through verbal means or recite it inside their mind, that is, if one has complete mastery over the spell. When it comes to modern spells, grimoire act as a computer to perform spell programming, but still retain the traditional usage.¡±

    ¡°#Q8 What is the function of a staff and a magiculum?¡±

    ¡°A staff have two major functions. It can widen a spell¡¯s range significantly without the need for additional Mana. The other function is to lessen the burden of a mage when using a powerful spell or cancel its side effects by acting as a substitute.

    A magiculum exists to replace the usage of a magic wand. It has the same properties and utility of a wand, to enable a magic amateur to temporary enlarge their Mana veins so that they could learn using spells. As wands are incredibly inconvenient, magiculum, a ring made from the same material as a wand, provides a safer and faster alternative to cast spells.¡±

    ¡°#Q9 What is a Mana vein?¡±

    ¡°A Mana vein is an intangible vein within every living being to transfer Mana throughout the entire body.¡±

    ¡°#Q10 What is the correlation between a humanoid¡¯s stamina and Mana volume? Please list out two ways to expand a humanoid¡¯s Mana volume.¡±

    ¡°A humanoid¡¯s stamina and Mana volume can be influenced by each other. When a humanoid¡¯s stamina decrease due to physical activities, their Mana will also be drained; if a humanoid use too much spells and emptied their Mana volume, they would be physically tired as well.

    The first method to expand a humanoid¡¯s Mana volume is to constantly use magic to entirely deplete a humanoid¡¯s Mana and repeat the process. The second method is to exercise the humanoid¡¯s body every day until all their stamina has been sapped away and repeat the process.¡±

    ¡°#Q11 What is a soul reservoir?¡±

    ¡°A soul reservoir is a living being which possesses an infinite amount of Mana. These beings, according to the Soul-Body theory, are essentially immortals and cannot be destroyed by any means necessary unless they completely lost their will to live.¡±

    ¡°#Q12...¡± Rey spent another hour answering even more detailed questions which range from asking the major laws governing every mage to listing specific branches of spells.

    ¡°Those who had finished answering the questions, please step up to the desk in front of the room.¡± Rey and almost half the people inside the classroom stood up almost immediately and followed the voice¡¯s instruction. When they reached the desk, the professor behind it spoke again, ¡°Please grab the crystal in front of you and hold it for ten seconds. This will determine your Mana density.¡±

    There were a few humans alongside him, a larger proportion of elves and a small number of other humanoid beings. When the crystal revealed the Mana density of elves to be 4, they had a proudful expression on them. Rey could tell the other people on the spot was annoyed by it because the elves just have to show off their aptitude for magic. When it¡¯s Rey¡¯s turn, he quickly grabbed the crystal, waited for ten seconds, and the moment the crystal had a reaction, he left the classroom ASAP. He already knows what was his Mana density before arriving the Academy, thus he didn¡¯t want to waste any time and rushed off to his next class.

    <hr>

    ¡°Hello everyone! My name is Jenny and I welcome all of you to this session of familiar training!¡± A female elf with a small octopus latched on her right arm introduced herself in front of the open and spacious classroom to draw the attention of all the newcomers in the room. The sunlight was fierce in the room due to the room¡¯s closeness to the bordering room in the First Ring. The students, along with their familiar, gathered around her and stayed at their position, listening to whatever she has to say.

    ¡°Before we start, you guys should know about my colleagues right beside me. There¡¯s John,¡± The male higher wolf Demi, with his furball familiar on his shoulder, at her right waved his hand and smiled, ¡°And there¡¯s Colette,¡± The short female changeling with twintails and her butterfly familiar at Jenny¡¯s left said, ¡°Hello!¡± while waving her hand as hard as she can before it came to a stop.

    ¡°Every year, there are newcomers, even though they had chosen to attend this class themselves, that has no idea what is the purpose of this course. It¡¯s fine! When I was your age, I attended this class as well, not fully understanding what all this is about. So, for those who didn¡¯t know why they are here,¡± A few of the students chuckled, ¡°I will explain to you what we do in this course. Listen carefully now, I don¡¯t want to repeat and waste everyone¡¯s time.

    The aim of the Familiar Training course is to teach students how to better understand their familiars and teach familiars how to better control their innate abilities to potentially benefit their, *ahem, owners,¡± She lowered her tone, ¡°We don¡¯t use the word ¡®master¡¯ here,¡± Then she raised her volume back up, ¡°So, now that all of you have understood the purpose of attending this class, we¡¯ll begin separating all of you into different groups according to your familiar¡¯s ability. Look at the signs on the wall of the room and you¡¯ll know where to go. For those who doesn¡¯t know your familiar¡¯s ability, please come closer.¡±

    As the crowd slowly dissolves, there were a few who seem reluctant to move. For that, Jenny spoke again, ¡°Not knowing your familiar¡¯s ability is nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes familiar¡¯s abilities can be hard to identify while some might have incredible powers hidden within them, but they didn¡¯t show those powers because it could be dangerous. Or maybe even the familiars themselves don¡¯t know about their abilities. That is what we also do in this class, to discover latent abilities of your familiars. So step up, people!¡± Her sudden burst of enthusiasm surprised a few students, ¡°We have a lot to do today!¡± She shook her fist in the air for a few seconds before letting it down and put up a big smile on her face.

    ¡°Also, if your familiar have more than two abilities, please come forward.¡± Less than ten students left their group immediately after the announcement and walked towards the elf.

    ¡°Whoa. Is that a Kitsune?¡± A student behind Rey asked. They were standing in the ¡®fire element¡¯ section. It seems that the groups were separated by the type of elements their familiar possess. There is the basic ten elements category; fire, water, air, earth, metal, electric, plant, light, darkness, ice, and non-elements category like mind control, telekinesis, etc.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Rey answered, though he didn¡¯t turn his head back. Hinoko, on the other hand, jumped atop of his head from the shoulder and stood proudly whilst facing the student, telling him she is indeed a Kitsune.

    ¡°All of you! Please switch on your Circulum and fill up the form that will pop up on your screen. Colette and I will go through all the groups while you write to test the strength of your familiar. Thank you.¡± He didn¡¯t need to shout because he had a microphone sticker beside his mouth to amplify his voice.

    The two adults started from the non-elemental group first because there were lesser people in those groups. Fire, water, earth and air elemental groups have the most people in it. Anyway, Rey started to fill in the form. It asked a lot of basic questions like when and where do the familiars and owners first meet, what is the familiars¡¯ height and weight, and what is the familiars¡¯ second ability, which Rey wrote ¡®size manipulation¡¯. He filled up the form relatively fast, so he walked towards the closest wall and stood there, listening to people¡¯s conversation, hoping to catch any valuable information.

    ¡°Hey, you know, this situation reminds me of that manga where people uses some sort of balls to capture cute monsters.¡±

    ¡°Huh, you¡¯re right. I don¡¯t read it anymore, though. Some of the familiar protection association got upset with it because its idea of capturing monsters and enslaving them to fight their kin for their masters¡¯ selfish gain.¡±

    ¡°What?! I never saw the story with this perspective. My childhood is ruined!¡± Maybe there weren¡¯t any valuable information in this room after all. A person suddenly showed up in front of Rey and introduced himself.

    ¡°Hi, my name is Joe, nice to meet you.¡± A male elf, and a maroon coloured lizard with black spots on his shoulder stretched out his hand with a clear intention to shake the impassive boy¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Rey.¡± He has been standing against the wall with both his arms crossing in front of his chest and he does not want to want to move a single inch. The elf doesn¡¯t seem to be offended by Rey¡¯s cold attitude and laid down his hand.

    ¡°That is a nice Kitsune you got there. Do you live in the Outer Regions? Because getting a Kitsune in the city is--¡±

    ¡°None of your business.¡± Joe was clearly startled by his angry words. When he was about to list Rey in his mind as a ¡®bad person¡¯, he saw the Kitsune doing some sort of apologetic motion on his head. He then realized he made a mistake by thinking everyone is willing to share bits of their personal life.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for offending you. I got too enthusiastic to make new friends. Seeing so many familiar owners in one place made me very excited. Once again, I am sorry.¡± Upon witnessing the stranger¡¯s earnest apology, Rey softened his attitude and forgave him by asking a question.

    ¡°......What¡¯s your familiar¡¯s name? This right here is Hinoko.¡± The blue-eyed elf smiled and answered, ¡°This fellow here is Feuer. Say hello, Feuer,¡± the salamander waved its front leg at Hinoko. She waved back. The two of them had a short conversation about their respective familiars before the higher werewolf came to their group with a device on his hand.

    ¡°Everybody, please step into a line in front of me.¡± He ignored Joe and swiftly made his way into the line. He was at around the tenth spot, which is why he was able to see what was happening in front. It seems that a few girls were attracted to the ¡®hot¡¯, male higher wolf Demi. He wasn¡¯t very different from a normal human except for his wolf eyes, pointy ears, sharp teeth, wolf tail and large hands. While Rey waited until his turn, he saw the group beside him was handled by the beautiful changeling. She looks more like a teenage girl than a young adult. It was her fairy eyes and rounded ears that told Rey she is a changeling.

    ¡°What is your familiar¡¯s name?¡± The higher werewolf asked. Rey gave him the Kitsune¡¯s name.

    ¡°Alright, Hinoko. Put your paw on the pad.¡± The device he was holding has a screen on one-half and a scanning pad on the other. Hinoko did as he said and words started to appear on the screen. After the ¡®teacher¡¯ saw the results on the screen, his expression turned confused.

    ¡°How old is your Kitsune?¡± Rey didn¡¯t see this question coming.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, neither does she.¡± Initially, the ¡®teacher¡¯ was doubtful of his answer, but he recalled something and went towards the kid behind Rey.

    <hr>

    ¡°Howdy, Rey! Just calling to check how you¡¯re doing. Is everything going well?¡± Rey was sitting in the Academy Mall¡¯s cafeteria eating his lunch. He didn¡¯t go back to the dorm to eat lunch there because his schedule was too tight. He didn¡¯t regret it, though.

    ¡°Good.¡± He took his final bite on the burger and threw the wrapper on the table. Hinoko, in her humanoid form, sped up her eating speed after seeing that Rey had finished.

    ¡°Nothing special happened?¡± ¡°None.¡± ¡°Do you want to join me for dinner later? Along with Eli?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯ll only go back to the dorm after 9.¡± ¡°Jeez, Rey. You¡¯re pushing yourself too hard. This isn¡¯t good for you, even if you¡¯re a genius.¡± ¡°I can handle it. Tell Eli I say hi.¡± He hung up before Aster could express his shock. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    ¡°Ready, Hinoko?¡± She wiped her mouth before transforming back into a fox and leaped onto Rey¡¯s shoulder. He typed in the next coordinate into the app and off he goes. The trash on the table slowly floated its way towards the nearest trashcan and the stains on the table slowly faded away.

    <hr>

    ¡°Welcome to the Firearm Training course! My name is Jacob, the main instructor for this batch of students! Now! For those who doesn¡¯t know a thing about firing a gun, please go to the back! For those who do, please go to the weapons counter!¡± It was incredibly odd. Why was there weapon counters on the right side of the mind-blowingly expansive room? And why was it set up like a flea market, a person standing behind each counter with different guns on it?

    ¡°Today, we¡¯ll be collaborating with the Firearm R&D class! All of you will choose a gun and fire it at the shooting range! Although this is against our usual routine of letting newcomers use standard firearms, but I¡¯ll allow it! I¡¯m sure a lot of you will be excited to use these uniquely crafted guns! Because I am! Don¡¯t worry about safety, these guns are 1000% safe! Also, your performance will be recorded, so do your best!¡± It was really weird for Rey. The instructor acted like a child and allowed newcomers to use these firearms made by older students. Although, it¡¯s not like it was a big concern. Everyone that¡¯s here knew what they are doing, which was why only about ten students went to the back while the other 80% were going nuts to see their favourite guns from video games came to life.

    ¡°You can only spend ten minutes to show your skills, so don¡¯t mess it up! And don¡¯t you dare spend extra time in it! Once your time is over, return your weapons to their original counters, or you¡¯ll be punished! Don¡¯t try to steal either, or you¡¯ll be kicked out from this room PERMANENTLY!¡± Speaking of the room, it was located at the very border of the building; you can look outside and see the gigantic gate. It was also a combination of a dozen room, as seen from the small number of horizontal rooms (Exp: Room 12-3 ¡û This number of the room Rey is currently in is really small compared to other rooms) ¡ü

    Rey sauntered over to the counter with the least amount of people, which was a guy daydreaming behind his counter with a handgun on it. When he arrived at the counter, he found out that the tall guy was actually a dwarf based on his ears, eyes and hair style. Even though the dwarf was staring at Rey, Rey could tell that he wasn¡¯t concentrating what¡¯s in front of him at all. He probably didn¡¯t even ¡®see¡¯ the boy with a Kitsune on his shoulder. Rey snapped his finger and the dwarf blinked his eyes a few times before greeting Rey.

    ¡°Oh...hello¡­.my name is Emery¡­.nice to meet you¡­.¡± This has to be the most peculiar person he met today. The ¡®dwarf¡¯ was 170 cm high, wore a t-shirt with a pizza on it and a pair of red shorts. His expression was perpetually in a daze, but his grey eyes, black hair with a few hair bangs covering his forehead, innocent looking, handsome face, and a small number of dwarf-culture-style hair braids on the side of head made him look nothing less than a supermodel that girls would scream at the sight of him.

    ¡°My name is Reynard. Nice to meet you too.¡± He picked up the gun from the counter and began examining it. At first glance, it was larger than regular a handgun and had a futuristic aesthetic to it. Rey knows how to fire a gun, but he wasn¡¯t very knowledgeable about them, especially this custom crafted firearm.

    ¡°Can you tell me more about you gun?¡± When he raised his head up from inspecting the gun, he found Emery daydreaming again. He had to snap his finger once more and ask the question again.

    ¡°...oh¡­wait a sec...¡± He slowly activated his Circulum, clicked on a document and read out the contents, ¡°...this gun...does not require...real bullets...it functions by absorbing¡­.the Mana of the¡­.user. The fire rate¡­.the stopping power...and the distance of the bullet can travel...depends on...how the user¡­..manipulates the Mana flowing¡­.into it. The bullet¡­.is intangible¡­.but it has the same effect¡­.as a real bullet¡­.it can cause pain¡­..but not death¡­.the element of the bullet¡­.can be chosen by¡­.selecting the option at¡­.the grip...it also doesn¡¯t¡­..have recoil¡­.thanks for¡­..listening¡­.¡± Rey didn¡¯t want to be rude and just walked to the guy¡¯s back to read the entire thing himself and so he suffered the consequence. However, this gun was perfect for Rey. It¡¯s like a gun for a magic user. There were quite a lot of option at the grip, but he didn¡¯t care about it.

    He took the gun with him towards an unoccupied shooting range. There weren¡¯t any gun sounds bouncing around the room because it has silence spells cast at the area of the shooter position. There were a lot of individual shooting range as well, normal people might take it for granted, but Rey could tell those ranges have dimensional-perception spells on it; the ranges might be half the length when seen from an outside perspective, it became full length when someone steps into the position; the spell distorts the actual size of the range like a corporeal illusion. It saves a lot of space by using this technique.

    Rey was contemplating whether or not he should use his Ingenium. If he did, he could get 100% accuracy as long as his Mana wasn¡¯t drained out by using the Ingenium and the gun first and everyone will praise him like a Deity. Although, he might accidentally gather too much attention or get kicked out for cheating (though the instructor didn¡¯t say he couldn¡¯t). He decided to use his raw ability in the end.

    When it was finally his turn, he wanted to see if he could extend the range¡¯s length. He could because everyone was using different guns. He didn¡¯t want to think too hard about how to accurately measure a person¡¯s aptitude to fire a gun when some were using rifles and others were using shotguns¡­? He had his rough answer a few seconds later when he noticed he was required to let the table below his arms to scan his firearm.

    Ten minutes later, he regretted not using his Ingenium. It was the gun¡¯s fault, he should¡¯ve chosen a gun that fires tangible bullets despite its recoil because he failed to properly inject his Mana in a way that the bullets would go the way he expected. It was a disaster for the first five minutes, he could barely hit anything with it. Nevertheless, he gets moderately used to it pretty fast (maybe because he had some magic training) and earned a ¡®C¡¯ when the results showed up. Truth be told, he really enjoyed using this gun, it¡¯s way better than anything he used while at the Outer Regions. He saw the potential of this gun and would love to use it as his own if the Emery guy could sell it to him.

    When Rey walked back towards the ¡®dwarf¡¯, he was still standing in the same posture like he¡¯s a statue. Rey would go crazy if he did absolutely nothing for a solid 5 minutes, he just has to do something to keep his mind busy. So, as anyone could imagine, he was dumbfounded by Emery¡¯s ¡®ability¡¯ to do nothing. He snapped his finger and brought back the dwarf to reality.

    ¡°Here¡¯s your gun.¡± Emery nodded slightly as an acknowledgment. Before Rey could spat out another word, his Circulum notified him of a new message in the inbox. It turns out the message was actually a questionnaire, asking if the user was satisfied with the gunsmith¡¯s firearm.

    ¡°...this is¡­.our assignment¡­.for this semester¡­.I hope you can¡­.answer truthfully¡­.¡± The survey asked a lot of detailed questions like ¡®Is the grip comfortable? If not, please state why.¡¯ and stuff like that. After a handful of minutes, Rey completed the survey and asked his question.

    ¡°Can you sell this to me?¡± He waited for awhile, but there was no response. He snapped his fingers again and Emery answered.

    ¡°....after the¡­.assignment is done¡­.then¡­.I can sell it¡­..to you¡­.¡± ¡°I see. This is my contact number. Send me a message when you¡¯re assignment is completed.¡± Rey sent his contact number to Emery and turned to his back, preparing to leave.

    ¡°...wait...¡± Rey swerved back and stared at him, ¡°....tell me¡­.do you¡­.like using¡­.my gun¡­?¡± ¡°Of course. Why do you think I want to buy it?¡± Emery finally had a change of expression. He smiled for a few seconds before reverting back to his usual face.

    <hr>

    Hinoko tapped his forehead a few times to make sure he was still awake. Rey was lying down on the ground, facing upwards, finally not gasping for breath like a drowning person. He opened his eyes and saw her fox face upside down. He stared at her for a minute before pulling himself up, used two spells to sweep away the dust behind his back and dried up his clothes so it won¡¯t smell like sweat. He casually strolled back to the Academy building to grab his afternoon snack.

    Half an hour ago, Rey attended the Wing Chun (Ó½´º) training course. He wanted to train his quite physically weak body and learn some martial art, so it was a ¡®hitting two birds with one stone¡¯ decision. The test was as he imagined it to be, run around the Training Ground while the instructor records the newcomers¡¯ performance. However, the instructor wanted them to run until they cannot move any of their muscles for ten minutes to ¡®accurately¡¯ measure their abilities. The instructor gave each of them a sticker-like measuring instrument, attach it onto their arm and off they go.

    Rey just hoped that the next few courses wouldn¡¯t be as exhausting as this.

    <hr>

    ¡°Hello everybody! Welcome to the Ingenium Training course! My name is Brendon, the main instructor for this batch of students. I hope all of you are humans because I sure can¡¯t teach anybody who isn¡¯t one to use Ingenium! Amiright?!¡± The entire field, dedicated for various training that involves the use of Mana/Source, was so quiet, only the sound of the whistling wind remained.

    ¡°....Goddammit.¡± He whispered the word under his breath before stepping away and let a young woman continued.

    ¡°My name is Stella. I¡¯m sorry all of you have to listen to that idiot¡¯s terrible joke. Alright, for those of you that have Ingenium that will cause damage to your surroundings, like the ability to manipulate fire or explosion, you will follow the instructions of my colleagues at my left; for those whose Ingenium that won¡¯t do that will follow the instructors at my right; and for those who don¡¯t know whether or not their Ingenium can cause serious damage, stay right where you are, I will decide which category you fall into. Is that clear?¡± The crowd answered yes and began to split up. Rey followed the group to the right and entered the building. The instructors gave the group the room number and they teleported there.

    ¡°For those who wish to keep their Ingenium as a secret, please stay here. An instructor will be paired with you.¡± One of the instructors said in front of the door. Then, a few instructors took most of the students into the room while three remained. Rey was chosen to pair up with Brendon. The three instructors entered different numbers into the keypad and took their designated students to go into different rooms.

    When the two of them stepped into the room, Rey found that it was much less like a room but a rather large cubicle with glass walls in front of them, though the other walls were completely opaque. They could see a setting sun at the furthest end of the glass wall. The instructor closed the door and both of them advance towards the center.

    ¡°I should reintroduce myself. My name is Brendon! If you wish to continue this course after today, I will be your personal instructor, or at least I would be if you don''t request to switch me with another instructor or if I am not capable of teaching you, since you wanted to keep the nature of your Ingenium as a secret. Don¡¯t worry, I am obligated to not say a single thing that happens in this place, so rest assure. What¡¯s your name?¡± The young man before him was around the age of twenty-five. He had a short, normal, hazelnut hair, brown eyes, a tall stature but a slim body, and wore a set of common clothes.

    ¡°Reynard.¡± ¡°Reynard, eh? That¡¯s a pretty nice name. Can I call you Rey? For short?¡± Rey nodded, ¡°Is that fox on your head, I mean, that Kitsune your familiar? What¡¯s its name?¡± ¡°Hinoko.¡± ¡°Cool! Never saw one in real life. Can it transform into a humanoid form?¡± ¡°......¡± ¡°....Okay, let¡¯s get down to business. Hinoko, you might wanna get down from his head.¡± She reluctantly jumped down, ¡°First, show me your Ingenium.¡±

    Rey¡¯s iris slowly became dark with tiny blue streams connecting the pupil and the edge of the iris while he activated his Ingenium. Strips with the same colour/pattern as his iris appeared from his sleeve and made its way towards his palm.

    ¡°Wow! I never see any Ingenium like this! It looks very mesmerizing.¡± Brendon gawked at the strips cross-crawling on Rey¡¯s skin and covered some of his hand with it, ¡°So, what does it do?¡±

    ¡°My Ingenium has two main functions, as far as I can tell,¡± He stared at his hands as more and more strips almost blanketing the entire hand, ¡°The first function is to transfer any kind of energy from one end of the strip to another instantly. The second function requires a demonstration.¡± His hand was completely shrouded by the strips.

    ¡°Just tell me what you need. Or do you need me to back away a little bit?¡± ¡°No. I only need to touch your head,¡± Brendon felt a little creepy the way the kid looked at him while saying that. He kinda wanted to say no, but this is his job and it¡¯s not like the kid would do anything bad anyway. Plus, with his Ingenium, he would totally be safe, ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s do this,¡± He bent his body so that Rey¡¯s creepy hand could reach his head. When he felt the sensation of a hand touching his head, he found himself suddenly appeared in a white space with Rey in front of him.

    ¡°Woah. Impressive,¡± He looked around the surrounding, ¡°So, your Ingenium¡¯s second function is entering other people¡¯s mind? That¡¯s kinda odd, considering it has a totally different function from the first one.¡±

    ¡°Yes. My Ingenium¡¯s second function allows me to create a bridge between the minds whom I touched with the strips, or at least that is what it seems to be. It is too annoying to explain it with words how it all works, hence I invited you to this bridge. I can ¡®show¡¯ you what I what I know without using any words, the same goes for you too.¡± Rey then ¡®pictured¡¯ his ¡®explanation¡¯ into Brendon. All of the information flooded into the instructor¡¯s mind. To his surprise, he didn¡¯t find it overwhelming, rather he could understand all of the information immediately.

    ¡°Wow. This Ingenium of yours is incredible! Okay, so let me get this straight. The second function of your Ingenium is actually a branch of sub-functions which allows you to manipulate your mind and other people¡¯s mind, yes?¡± Rey nodded,

    ¡°From my assumption made from the information, if explaining through the context of your first function, since souls are a form of energy, these ¡®strips¡¯ can create an instantaneous connection between your organs, based on the Soul-Body Theory, and enhances your physical senses. Not only that, if you used those strips in your own mind, you could dive into your unconscious and essentially create a virtual space, or as you ¡®said¡¯, a ¡®super-library¡¯ to organize all your knowledge neatly and so when you need to consciously brought up these information, it would be very easy. In this sense, what you did when you came in contact with my head is that you transfer your ¡®energy¡¯, your thoughts, into my mind while the same thing happens to me, hence a ¡®mental bridge¡¯. Right?¡± He nodded again,

    ¡°Let¡¯s see...when you created a bridge between minds, the time on the outside is frozen from our perspective in here, but when you use it on yourself while you¡¯re lucid dreaming, you can control your perspective of time inside your dream to accommodate the moving time outside. And...when you intrude another person¡¯s mind, you could ¡®shut down¡¯ their mind by forcing their unconscious to surface and causing their psyche to collapse. Is that all? I think that¡¯s all of it, right?¡± The third nod, ¡°Hmm. Let¡¯s talk about the weaknesses then. Please don¡¯t do the ¡®forcing information into my mind¡¯ thing. It¡¯s not bad, but I prefer the old fashion way of talking.¡±

    ¡°If you insist,¡± Rey sighed with a scowl. Brendon could see the annoyance in his eyes. His request was probably not a very good one, ¡°The strips can¡¯t move very fast, especially if it¡¯s travelling through the air. If I use it to enhance my senses, I can¡¯t use it for very long because I would be addicted to it. If someone knows what is the functions of my Ingenium and prepared for it, I could be suppressed when entering their mind, or even be expelled instantly.¡±

    ¡°Anything else?¡± The instructor took a mental note as the boy speak. Rey shook his head, ¡°Very well, then. Can we exit this place now?¡± As soon as he finished, he was brought back to reality. He stood right back up and switched on his Circulum, ¡°Since today was only planned for figuring out what your Ingenium is, you can leave now. I¡¯m sending you my time slot, you can decide what time do you wish to attend the course.¡± Rey¡¯s Circulum vibrated as a notification that he just received a note in his inbox.

    ¡°Until next time, Reynard.¡± He winked at Rey before leaving.

    <hr>

    ¡°Rey! You¡¯re back! Aster told me you would be late.¡± Eli was about to leave the room for dinner when Rey came back.

    ¡°The tests were easy. Are you going for dinner right now?¡± ¡°Yes. Aster is waiting for me in the cafeteria. He told me this month¡¯s food is all about traditional elven cuisine. Can¡¯t wait to try,¡± Eli said as he and Rey made their way out of them room and towards the hallway. They then chatted about what they had experienced during the day.

    ¡°......Yeah. They separated us, those who didn¡¯t know a thing about magic healing, to another room and gave us a short introduction into what the course is all about. The-the teacher Elizabeth recommended was there and she was very good at teaching, at least in my opinion. I think I need to thank Elizabeth,¡± They finally found Aster¡¯s table and walked up to it. Aster was very happy to see Rey could join him.

    ¡°Rey! I¡¯m so glad you can join us. I would love to hear your story of the day as well.¡± Before they launched into a lengthy conversation, Aster taught them how to order the food via the Circulum. Once they selected their meal, their Units were immediately deducted. The goat Demi told the duo that the food will automatically float its way to their table once the cooking process was done.

    Rey didn¡¯t notice his Units increased, comparing to yesterday, when he paid for his food. This is probably what Aster mentioned during the second day after his arrival, Units were given when attending classes. Although, it was quite a lot more than he expected, perhaps it also takes how good he did during the tests into account? It¡¯s all beside the point for Rey anyway because his main concern for wasting time to earn Units has vanished.

    ¡°Hey, do you guys considered joining a club or an association? I know that Rey,¡± He aimed his hand at said junior, ¡°will eventually join The Analytical Mind, but did you look into other options?¡± He retracted his hand, ¡°If not, you guys should really check out all the clubs, associations and other stuff in the Academy. There¡¯s a saying in here, ¡®As long as you can imagine it, there¡¯s a club for it.¡¯ It¡¯s not really a stretch, I heard there was a club that collects the sounds of heartbeats from any living being that has a beating heart.¡±

    ¡°Really? Wow, that is really weird.¡± ¡°Huh, interesting. Does that mean a club or association can be easily created?¡± The food they ordered descended from above and landed before their respective ¡®owner¡¯. It was faster than Rey and Eli had expected.

    ¡°It depends on what kinda club you want to make. If it¡¯s something like ¡®Experimental Magic Club¡¯, you would need to do a lot of paperwork to get approval from the Student Council. But if it¡¯s something like, ¡®Drawing with Crayon Club¡¯, you can get approval the minute you send the application form, that is if you¡¯ll have some sort of achievement in the future to keep it running. FYI, both of those clubs really exist.¡± They then enjoyed their meal. After that, they talked about their day for an hour or so before going back to their rooms.

    ¡°Ahh~Today went better than I expected.¡± Eli had changed into his pajamas and lied on his bed with a delighted expression. Rey switched off the light and went up to his bed, ¡°Goodnight Eli.¡±

    ¡°Goodnight, Rey.¡± The smoke-white haired boy switched on his Circulum and began his little research on Jack.

    ?End of Chapter 6?

 Isnt This A Wonderful Sunday

    ¡°....While you¡¯re visiting The Analytical Mind, I¡¯ll be taking Eli with me to visit some of the clubs or association. When you¡¯ve finished your business with Arthur, maybe you can call me and join us. It¡¯ll be fun,¡± Aster used his fork to stab the last meat-mushroom on his plate and bring it into his mouth after finishing his sentence.

    ¡°¡®kay. See you guys later then,¡± Rey left his seat and Hinoko jumped onto his shoulder.

    ¡°See you later, Rey,¡± Said Eli. Aster waved his hand instead because he was still munching the mushroom.

    It¡¯s finally Sunday. After six days of different tests on different subjects, Rey couldn¡¯t help but felt worn out. Not because it was exhausting, it was because he felt so utterly bored. He already had a good grasp on all the subjects he chose and when he was answering those test questions, he almost fell asleep because it was too basic for him, save from some exceptions, of course. Anyhow, he told Eli and Aster his plan for studying: as long as he can learn it from books, he won¡¯t go to those classes, he would just stay in the room or go to the library. Eli was a bit skeptical of his method, but Aster was cool with it, so there¡¯s that.

    As he arrived at the door with a huge ¡®The Analytical Mind¡¯ sign on top of it, stretching over to the other two rooms at the left and right side of it, another person showed up from teleportation beside him as well.

    ¡°Good morning, Reynard. Nice to see you right on time,¡± Arthur was the one standing beside him, ¡°This three column of rooms under the sign all belongs to The Analytical Mind. Impressed?¡± He looked towards Rey, but he only saw a bland expression on the kid, so he marched forward to the middle door, pressed some numbers on the keypad and opened the door, ¡°After you,¡± He entered the room after Rey ambled in and closed the door.

    The room was much larger than a regular office. Directly in front of Rey¡¯s sight was four fancy couches surrounding a broad table with food and beverages on it in the middle of the room, and at the furthest spot of the room from his position lies a grand, wooden working table with a table sign ¡®President¡¯ on it and a door behind the chair. There were four similar working tables at each side of the room, close to the wall. Their table signs were, from the furthest to the closest, ¡®Vice President¡¯ on both sides, ¡®Secretary¡¯ on the right and ¡®Vice Secretary¡¯ on the left, ¡®Treasurer on the right and ¡®Vice Treasurer¡¯ on the left, ¡®Social Manager¡¯ on the right and ¡®Vice Social Manager¡¯ on the left. The room was also artistically well-decorated, from the elegantly designed carpet to the exotic drawings hung on the walls.

    ¡°Mornin¡¯, Art.¡± A higher Cat Demi with a gothic fashion sense sitting on the ¡®Vice Treasurer¡¯ table spoke, followed by the greeting of a minotaur working behind the enormous table of ¡®Secretary¡¯ with a deep, masculine voice, ¡°Good morning, President!¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Naso, Tina,¡± He greeted them while sauntering towards his table with Rey following behind.

    ¡°I told you not to call me that, Art.¡± She grumbled.

    ¡°But it suits you well, milady.¡± He playfully replied. A sharp pen instantly flew at the direction of Arthur, but he didn¡¯t even need to move his head to catch the pen and threw it back in a non-harmful way. It landed perfectly onto the angry and slightly blushing cat-eared girl¡¯s table, ¡°Remember not to scratch the table, Christina. It¡¯s very expensive~¡± She immediately stopped her hand before initiating said motion and lets out a frustrating sound.

    Rey sat on the comfy chair in front of Arthur¡¯s table while he sat on his ¡®king¡¯ chair, ¡°So, where do we start?¡± Rey just stared at him impassively, ¡°How about the story of how I founded The Analytical Mind. Objections?¡± Rey¡¯s placid demeanour really reminded him of his younger days, ¡°Very well, then.¡± Both of his hand met each other and formed a bridge which he rested his head on.

    ¡°When I first entered the Academy, I was an arrogant and proudful brat with an intelligence befitting to be called a genius. I wanted to show off my prized intellectual, so I entered an association similar to the one I had built. However,¡± He shifted his head a little to the right, ¡°it was poorly managed and a lot of the members were upset of how they were treated. So, I strived to take control of the association and transform it into an efficient organisation. Yet, even with my mental prowess, I could not accomplish my goal. I didn¡¯t realize my mistake and was kicked out pretty quickly. I became somewhat lost and was always alone. Until Yoro Sensei showed up. He is our current advisor/supervisor, by the way.¡± He lets down his left hand and used only the right to support his head.

    ¡°Calling Yoro Sensei an eccentric man would be a huge understatement. He always wore odd clothing and a very uniquely peculiar head mask. He saw the potential in me and wanted to guide me. I refused for the initial one hundred times or so, I¡¯ve lost count, but he would always find new ways to convince me. In the end, I gave up and started to work under him. He trained me in a lot of ways, but the most important of them all was how to properly interact with other individuals. Not only that, I made new friends, real friends that supported me.¡± A sincere smile surfaced.

    ¡°After that, my trusted companions and I made ourselves a name in the unforgiving society of the Academy. That was the time when I formed new friendships with people that would greatly affect the Academy today, for example, Elizabeth and Damien. As my influence and power grew and grew, it was time to challenge the organization that humiliated me. I beat all of them hard into the ground in a series of Challenges and took the association from their hand as a trophy for my victory.¡± He lifted his head and now both of his arm rests on the table.

    ¡°From that point onwards, I began to pave the way for my greatest accomplishment yet. I practically destroyed the organization I won and built it from the ground up with my friends. After years of hard work, The Analytical Mind finally became what I had dreamt of since stepping into this building. Now, you sat within my crowning achievement. The end.¡± As expected, Rey¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change a bit, although his aura indicates he was quite entertained by Arthur¡¯s life story.

    ¡°Wow, what a wonderful story. Just look at the kid, he is weeping from your touching story.¡± Christina sarcastically commented.

    ¡°Now, now. Isn¡¯t this partly your story as well? How about you drink some cold soda to cool yourself.¡± He winked. She seemed even angrier than before.

    ¡°Speaking of soda, could you stop buying things on a whim?!¡± She stood up and slammed her hands on the table, ¡°You kept buying pointless stuff and snacks whenever you want and it is making my life hell! I don¡¯t want to wake up this early and trying to balance the accounts all morning you know?! I have things to do as well! Every time I remind you not to do this you forgot all about it a month later.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯re using the opportunity of an important guest sitting right in front of me to make me remember because I¡¯ll feel humiliated and will not forget this moment?¡± He saw her glaring at him at hard as she can. He could feel Rey¡¯s leering as well.

    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± He waved his hands twice, ¡°I promise not to do that again. As an apology, I will take you to Sakana Taste later this evening for dinner. Wear your best dress.¡± He winked again. This time, her expression turned into a happy one and her face blushing as she sat down. Arthur moved his lips, saying ¡®You should learn how to make women happy. It¡¯ll come in handy in the future¡¯ without any sound coming from out. Rey understood the message and nodded in a not obvious way.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s get to the point. Usually, when newcomers want to be a part of this ¡®prestigious association¡¯, they would need to go through a few tests based on their occupational choice. However, that would not be applied to you for three reasons,¡± He extended his index finger and continue, ¡°One, you have proven yourself to be very competent to carry the title of Solver by catching the Circulum Thief. Two,¡±

    He stretched out the middle finger, ¡°There aren¡¯t a lot of Solvers in the Analytical Mind. And even for those who are currently working hard to live up to everyone¡¯s general expectation of the title, they aren¡¯t as good as you, or the person you will eventually become. I think you will be an excellent addition to the Solver department. And finally, number three,¡±

    He flipped out his ring finger, ¡°This reason is simple. You are officially one of my favourite individuals in the Academy.¡± As soon as Arthur finished his sentence, he could hear a laughter burst out.

    ¡°Ha ha ha! My oh my. Did I hear that right, President? Did you just said that the kid in front of you is your new favourite person?!¡± Naso the minotaur lifted up his gigantic body and made his way towards the right side of Arthur. He gave Arthur a big slap on his back before another came out from his mouth. The president doesn¡¯t seem to mind that strong slap,it was like it didn¡¯t happen at all.

    ¡°To think you would actually say it in front of the kid, that¡¯s some huge improvement President!¡± He directed his eyes at Rey, ¡°You know, kid? My dear President here hadn¡¯t given out any sort of compliment or praise for a loong time, even the brat he¡¯s chosen to attend the Wunderkind banquet with. Just so you know, he has been bringing up your name for an unusually long period of time during the past week, which was three times. Three! But to actually say you are his favourite right in front of you? I would¡¯ve never see that coming. Heh.¡± Naso couldn¡¯t hold back his amusement.

    ¡°Alright, big guy. Are you done embarrassing me?¡± He aimed his eyes up to meet his colleague¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Of course, especially when I had a rare chance to witness the great Arthur Bell to compliment a freshman only after meeting him twice. And I assure you, Chris has not recorded the entire thing and send it to our other fellow companions,¡± Arthur immediately shifted his attention towards the higher cat Demi and saw her sending something to other people via the holographic screen, ¡°We would never--¡±

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough sarcasm. *Sigh. You guys are not going to let this go anytime soon, are you?¡± His two subordinates instantly replied, ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Like hell I would.¡±

    ¡°My dear President,¡± He placed his large hands on Arthur¡¯s shoulder, ¡°I¡¯ll have you know none of us has forgotten what you did during last year¡¯s Genus Day,¡± As the bulky minotaur walked back to his table, Christina added, ¡°And don¡¯t think we¡¯ll go easy on you this year. All of us will make sure we get our long awaited revenge. The clip I sent to the others just now is merely a prologue to your DOOM.¡± The higher cat Demi and the minotaur went back to their work with a grin on their face.

    ¡°Sorry you have to see that. But I won¡¯t take back what I said. I am indeed very interested in you, Rey. Or rather, I¡¯m interested in what you will become one day. Maybe someone like me? Or an entirely unpredictable outcome will take place? Anyhow, let¡¯s talk about your recruitment into The Analytical Mind.

    Before we dive right into the topic, in case there were others that were upset with my decision, you¡¯ll have to take one test, which is the final test for new recruits, to prove yourself worthy. Although,you don¡¯t need to worry too much about that, after all, I am indeed very hard to impress.

    Now, about your wish to become a Solver. As you already know, being Solver has a great resemblance to being a detective, save for the aim of the jobs. Hence, both of it shares the same rules and pretty much the same required permits. We¡¯ll talk about the permits later because right now, you have to know what does it take to be an official Solver in my association.

    First, you¡¯ll have to work under an already registered Solver as his or her ¡®sidekick¡¯. It will allow you to learn the many functions of this organization, all the information you need to know to become a good Solver and perhaps even the knowledge of how the Academy really works. As you spend your time with your designated Solver, he or she will record all your actions and put it into a report which will be sent to the committee to be evaluated, but in your case, the report will be sent to me. Once I have decided that you are capable enough to become an independent Solver from the reports, I will meet you right back here and conduct an interview. Once you pass the interview, I will grant you the right to undertake cases as an official Solver and a member of the Analytical Mind. Usually, this process would require a year¡¯s time for an average person, but I expect you to take up that title within this semester.¡± He put up a sinister smile as he spoke.

    ¡°Next up is the permits. As a Solver or a detective, when you undertake a request, you would often need to break the rules of the Academy. Permits are the solution to this problem. It tells other people that you are mature and responsible enough to do whatever the permit allows you to do. Detectives had it easy, they only need a few permits to get their job done. For a Solver, however, since you are required to accept even the most bizarre requests the students of the Academy can come up with, you¡¯ll probably need more than ten permits to satisfy your clients¡¯ needs.

    The most important permit is the Investigation Permit. This permit will allow you to question suspects, search a private room or performing other usually illegal actions. The permit has ten levels in total, each giving the owners different kinds of clearance. As you advance upward through the levels, it goes without saying that the difficulty of reaching higher levels increases. While it usually involves taking tests when moving one level up, it heavily relies on your reputation and the relationships you forged when doing your job.

    The Student Council issues all of the permits, except club or association exclusive ones, but they will often call upon experts to help them in their assessments. What I¡¯m saying is, when you are applying for the Investigation Permit, you are very likely to meet one of the members of the Analytical Mind. That said, we aren¡¯t the only agency which have detectives or Solvers under our name.

    I will provide you some assistance during your submission of the Investigation Permit form. However, for the other permits, you will have to deal with it yourself. The most obvious permits you should acquire are the Firearm Permit, Ingenium Permit, Familiar Permit, CQC Permit and your Mage License, both scholar, and combat.¡± Rey was surprised that Arthur knew what talents he has. Perhaps the president has used his resources to keep tabs on him, or his aura reading skills are...godly.

    ¡°In case you weren¡¯t aware of the difference, licenses are the permanent version of a permit and are also effective outside the Academy as well. I would suggest you getting licenses instead of permits, but their applications work on fairly different systems, so you¡¯ll have to look into those yourself and make a decision.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s about it. I¡¯ll send the details about all the things I mentioned earlier into your inbox so you don¡¯t have to waste your time asking around how to do this or that. I¡¯ll notify you once the paperwork is done. It won¡¯t be long, given that you filled in the form I sent you a few days ago quite fast despite your supposedly tight schedule. Now then,¡± He stood up, Rey followed ¡°It¡¯s time for you to leave. I¡¯ve got work to do and you should relax yourself during your only day off. It¡¯s not ideal for your health if you keep pushing yourself without some rest. Take it from someone who knows this very well,¡± Rey stepped out from his chair and turned around with the intention of leaving. But, before he could leave, Arthur called his name.

    ¡°Rey, a short question please?¡± Rey turned back and looked at him, ¡°Do you have any big plans for today?¡± He shook his head, ¡°I see. If that¡¯s the case, allow me to suggest you visit the Alchemy Guild. Oliver has been wanting to meet you ever since the banquet and he asked me to tell you that he would be staying at the Guild for the whole morning. You should go, maybe you¡¯ll learn something interesting there.¡± Rey bowed his body at a small angle before he exited the room.

    <hr>

    ¡°Tada! Pretty cool right? Old guilds like these have their own unique design to set it apart from the much modern ones.¡± Aster said to the duo in front of the Alchemy Guild. The medieval design of the entrance made it looked like the guild doesn¡¯t belong to the Academy but was rather slotted into the space between the normal classrooms.

    ¡°....Rey? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Eli noticed that Rey¡¯s body tensed up and his expression turned grim.

    ¡°.....Nothing.¡± He forgot to ask Arthur which room Oliver was in. He cannot believe he just made such a simple mistake. He definitely does not want to call Arthur and embarrass himself. Luckily for him, when Aster approached closer to the door, it opened from the inside and the kid with a bowl cut jumped out. The door closed a few seconds later.

    ¡°Hallo!¡± Rey¡¯s body immediately soften and let out a sigh of relief, ¡°Rey! I¡¯ve been expecting you! And your friends too. Come in!¡± He entered numbers into the keypad and opened the door once more. He kept it open with his hand pushing against the door until all three of them entered the room before releasing his hand from the door and followed behind.

    The interior design was completely opposite from the one outside except for the alchemical signs. The walls of the room were all white and were covered in either complete or incomplete alchemical circles of various sizes and colours. There was one student standing upside down on the ceiling and drawing a large and complex circle. Directly in front of Rey¡¯s vision was a separated floating ¡®room¡¯ of some sort in the center of the (about 16mx16mx16m) room.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    There was a few meters¡¯ distance between all the walls of the room and the ¡®room¡¯ in the center. It was actually a floating floor, which looked like as if the ground was sliced into a super thin sheet and hovered in the air, with invisible walls and another similar floor floating about 5 meters on top of the first one. Anyone could tell it there were invisible walls and not it has no wall because there were shelves with stuff in it standing on the very edge of the floor. About 1m in front of the trio, there lies a big glowing, green patch on the ground.

    ¡°Arthur told me he forgot to mention which room I was in! Can you believe it?! He¡¯s so smart but he can¡¯t remember such a small thing! Hahahaha!¡± Oliver lead them towards the green patch, which has the size that allows five people standing on it side by side, while he talked. The moment Oliver stepped on the green patch, it turned red for a split second as he teleported to the first hovering floor. The trio followed and found themselves standing in front of a few vertically arranged, elongated tables with what seems to be papers and diverse drawing instruments on it.

    ¡°I should probably introduce myself. My name is Aster, Eli¡¯s and Rey¡¯s guide.¡± Said he as his eyes met with the unfamiliar kid in front.

    ¡°Nice to meet you then, Aster! My name is Oliver! I met Eli and Rey during the Wunderkind banquet!¡± He stretched out his hand with the intention to shake Aster¡¯s. The goat Demi went along with him and they shook hands.

    They settled down on the closest chairs, with Oliver sitting across the three of them, Rey on the right, Aster in the middle and Eli on the left, ¡°Why do you want to meet me?¡± The familiar owner asked bluntly.

    ¡°Weeell, I wanted to show you something!¡± He removed himself from the chair and ambled towards one of the shelves at the far side of the floor. Rey could vaguely saw bundles of white papers neatly placed on the shelf. Oliver took one and proceeded to head back to his seat.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been working on this for the past week. It took a looong time but I am satisfied with my work and I wanted to share it with you! Here!¡± He handed the paper to Rey before taking his seat. Rey carefully unfolds the large paper from its cylindrical shape on the table. There was nothing on the paper, because it wasn¡¯t just a piece of paper, as one would assume from the first look, it¡¯s a ¡®smart paper¡¯.

    Made from the combination of magic and technology, the ¡®smart paper¡¯ was invented to stop common folks from using ordinary papers which were manufactured from organic material. The ¡®smart paper¡¯ is essentially a drawing software on a paper, but it offers much more flexibility to artists, or in this case, alchemists than using a Circulum.

    Rey tapped on the folder icon on the top right corner of the paper and it revealed a few save files. He tapped on one of the save files and opened it. When he saw the alchemical circle presented in front of him, his eyes widen in awe. It was the first time Eli and Aster saw that expression on him.

    ¡°Did you really draw this within a week?¡± Anyone could tell that Rey¡¯s voice was packed with admiration. Rey couldn¡¯t peel his eyes off from the masterpiece. No wonder Arthur would be impressed, Rey had greatly underestimated the genius who drew this.

    ¡°Yeeees! And a few more!¡± At this point, Rey was so absorbed into the circle he didn¡¯t hear Oliver¡¯s reply. Oliver noticed Eli and Aster were getting bored, so he asked them a question, ¡°Saaaay¡­Did you two know about Alchemy?¡± Aster expressed that he knew only a little about it while Eli shook his head.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the caaaase, I¡¯ll explain it to you while Reynard is appreciating my work. Let¡¯s seeeeee¡­ Alchemy is like magic, but it requires ¡®hands-on work¡¯. It was said that alchemy was created by a generous deity, who wishes its worshippers and worshippers of other deities to have their own ¡®language¡¯ that would not be restricted by its kind. Although the other deities were mad at the generous deity for creating alchemy because it mimics the way magic and potionry operates, they looked the other way when alchemy was able to serve a unique purpose.¡± The two non-humans listened closely whilst the only other human perused at the second drawing.

    ¡°Okay, so, alchemy has two major branch, one of which is a mixture with other fields of study. The ¡®real¡¯ branch alchemy teaches us how to draw and use alchemical circles to directly manipulate matter, either creating it, destroying it, transforming it, combining it and et cetera. Of couuurse, you can¡¯t just draw random circles and expect it to work, it has to obey certain rules to be functional. Like magic, there¡¯s the traditional circles and modern circles.

    The traditional circles are identical to what traditional spells are, except the circles came from sages or old and powerful individuals who practice alchemy for their entire life. Those people are considered as ¡®living deities¡¯, wielding mighty powers yet still lingers within the material world. Each of those masters invents new circles with their own styles, creating ¡®languages¡¯ in the context of magic, which is why these circles are known as ¡®Magic Circles¡¯. These circles cannot be modified in any way, just like traditional spells!

    Aaaaas for the modern, or should I say alchemical circles, it has a few rules one has to follow in order to establish a new circle. Just to clear up some potential misunderstandingsss, when we mention ¡®circles¡¯, we don¡¯t mean it literally. Alchemical circles stand for ¡®drawings which, through the power of Source or Mana, carry out specific processes to reach the desired results¡¯. It¡¯s called a ¡®circle¡¯ because it was the first shape used to perform this alchemical ritual.

    Now, alchemical circles are really easy to create. You need to draw three layers of circles, or whatever shape you prefer. For the most inner circle, you¡¯ll have to write down the ¡®core function¡¯. For example, if you want to combine two materials together, you¡¯ll need to write ¡®combine¡¯ at the center. Most of us prefer to use Han symbols as the default language because it saves a lot of space.

    The next step is to draw or write or whatever on the second layer to really make the circle do what you want. Imagine if you want to light up a fire and maintain it, but you don¡¯t want using magic to do it because you¡¯ll need to concentrate on it. SO, you write ¡®fire¡¯ as the ¡®core function¡¯, then at the second layer, by using whatever method you want and just list how you want the fire to present itself. You gotta write it down or draw it out how hot the fire is, how big it is and other stuff like that.

    Now, on the FINAL LAYER, you write down how do you want the circle to be activated. Maybe a time limit? Or when someone steps on it?? You decide! Unlike spells, you can make your circle work in a way that its function can be swapped between a few options on the fly, unlike spells! If ya want to alter big sections of the circle but still retain a few parts, you don¡¯t need to redraw the whole thing, just change one part of it and you¡¯re good to go, like (modern) spells! But, of course, to properly draw a circle, one would have to memorize all the constituent symbols and all types of arrangements. Otherwise, anyone can be an alchemist!¡± He detached the PDS on his belt, brought out a bottle of soda and gulped down one fourth of it before putting it down and let out a satisfied ¡®Ah~¡¯. He put the bottle back into the PDS and continued, seeing that Rey was still immersing himself in those drawings.

    ¡°Alrighty! Let¡¯s move on to the other branch! This branch usually associates alchemy with chemistry, potionry, mineralogy, technology and any other field of study that have stuff you can touch with your haaaands. In this case, alchemical circles are often used to overcome lots of limitations and or enhance items, like forging a super hard magical sword! Magic can do it too, but it requires tons of hard work to deal with the detailed parts whereas alchemy can easily do those things!

    Take potionry for example. Sometimes, even after dumping all the weird materials into a pot, it needs to meet other specific conditions like one of the herbs needs to dissolve faster than other herbs. Alchemy can do that very easily with magic circles or alchemical circles!

    Let¡¯s see, what else should I mention¡­.Ah! I know! Okay, Eli, you saw light-producing-circles floating on the air during the Wunderkind banquet right? Those were created by using special drawing materials. Thaaaat¡¯s right, there are more factors affecting the circles! In the past, when people encounter dangerous situations without any of our fancy modern tools, they need to be able to draw circles on different surfaces, or no surface at all!

    In other cases, there are circles that require an enormous amount of Source or Mana, but can¡¯t be activated due to the low density or volume of Source or Mana. By using these special drawing instruments made from legendary beasts or super old trees, those problems can be solved. But the most important usage is to increase the intensity of magic circles, seldom alchemical circles. I guess this count as the third branch of alchemy, where people research what material or what mixtures of material can allow alchemists to do this or that. OH! Rey! You¡¯ve finished admiring my works! Any commeeeeeeentsssss?¡± Rey handed the paper back to Oliver with a blank face, like he couldn¡¯t believe what he just saw.

    ¡°It¡¯s...amazing.¡± An understatement, but Rey wasn¡¯t one to enthusiastically express his reverence, ¡°Thank you for your praise!¡± He raised up both of his arms excitedly, ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to work super hard!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll..take our leave now. Until next time, Oliver.¡± Rey returned to his original self and stood up. The other two followed him and left their seat as well, ¡°See ya next time Rey!!!¡± The three of them proceeded to leave the room.

    Although nobody spoke of it, Eli was quite curious about the bracelet Oliver was wearing on his wrist. The bracelet holds a small blue gem, with a symbol he couldn¡¯t see on its surface, similar to Rey¡¯s red gem pendant. He was getting a little envious of both of them because he can¡¯t wear any accessory with those gems due to the reason that those are dated Mana containers that will disturb the seal ring¡¯s capability. Anyway, the thought crossed his mind for a few second before disappearing.

    <hr>

    ¡°Hello, what can I do for you?¡± Behind the counter was a female automaton. Her voice was soothing rather than monotonous. Rey could see her soft metallic skin, unlike an android, which was created with the sole purpose of being a real humanoid despite the inorganic body instead of being just an intelligent machine. He didn¡¯t feel repulsed by her robotic look because her overall appearance can make a male humanoid fell in love with her instantly.

    ¡°I would like to take two license test. One for the Mage: Scholar license, free range, 100 questions. Another for the Battle Mage license, traditional spells only, free range, no tools, first knockdown.¡± He heard that despite automatons were designed to be a perfect, walking, talking supercomputer, thus supposedly having no emotions, some of them do, after interacting with real humanoids after a long period of time. He hopes those are just rumours, or else whoever made or design them is going to lose their job and cause another unnecessary uproar.

    ¡°Acknowledged. Please place your Circulum on the pad.¡± The translucent pad on the counter lit up with a green light. He placed his right hand on the pad for a second before the green light vanished, ¡°Please enter the room behind me to proceed your Mage: Scholar license test.¡±

    Rey was currently in the grand Mage Association ¡®room¡¯. It technically counts as a building because a section of rooms was dedicated for the original Mage Association¡¯s (or guild, to be precise) decision to open an Academy branch inside, well, the Academy. When entered from the main entrance, one could see there was an elevated floor beginning at the middle of the lobby; there were two flight of marble stairs covered with carpet at each end; a long counter with several automatons were situated between the two 5m high stairs and artistic, pillar-like railings at the edge of the elevated floor.

    The actual floors above the lobby were enchanted with the same alchemical circles that were used in the hallways between the Rings to create the illusion that the entire collection or rooms were connected, especially because there were titanic shelves filled with books on both sides of the wall. Different tables and chairs filled up most of the spaces in the multi-level association, dubbed as ¡®The Second Library¡¯.

    Residents of other worlds, once familiarising themselves with Speir and maybe had a chance to step into the Academy, will wonder why books still exist if the technology here can help scan the contents of the books and upload it to the large network. There are a few minor reasons, but the most important of it is certain societies prefer to use books.

    Aside from the rare books that have magical properties and so being preserved for its value or uses, most books which are still not in the network are books that have strong ties to Source or Mana, like magic or alchemy. Books made from organic materials were treated as ¡®sacred¡¯ in those societies, hence they were perpetuated. Some of the other books stored within the walls of the Academy have sensitive topics in it, so it¡¯s understandable that the government won¡¯t be uploading those anytime soon.

    ¡°Aster, Eli, I¡¯ll be taking my license test now. Could be an hour or two before I finish. I¡¯ll call you when I¡¯m done. You don¡¯t need to stick around.¡± Rey walked away from the counter to his friends sitting on a couch.

    ¡°Nah, Imma spend some time here. Got a few books I want to check out. What about you, Eli? If you don¡¯t want to stay, just say it. I¡¯ll accompany you wherever you want to go.¡± Said Aster in a chill mood.

    ¡°I¡¯ll..I¡¯ll stay here too. Maybe it¡¯ll help me decide whether or not to take up self-defence magic lessons.¡± He didn¡¯t have any plan in mind anyway.

    ¡°See you guys later then.¡± Rey sauntered towards one of the few doors located beneath the elevated floor and entered it.

    Eli¡¯s attention was drawn towards tales and fables of heroic mages, instantly forgetting his real reason for staying. Aster, on the other hand, hand-picked a few advance spell books to see if he could learn any new interesting spells. He still attended magic classes which teach how to use both traditional and modern spells, though seldom. He uses another type of magic, one which humanoids might find it hard but an irregular [*Reminder, irregulars are the native residents of Niflheim] would find it easy.

    He was the one that taught Rey a lot about the Mage Association, including what types of license he could apply for. Usually, when one takes a license test, they would state the rank of the license they wish to obtain. As for the ¡®free range¡¯ option, in the case of Mage: Scholar license test, the computer will decide one¡¯s rank after calculating the amount of the correct answer from the random difficulty questions.

    ¡°Hey, did read the manga I¡¯ve been telling you to read for the past month?¡±

    ¡°Oh, yeah, about that, what was it again? I remember it has something to do with alchemy and, two brothers?¡± Aster laid down the book on his hand and listened to the conversation behind him.

    ¡°Argh, seriously? It¡¯s a story about two brothers travelling the world to search for the philosopher¡¯s stone. They tried to resurrect their mom when they were young but everything went wrong and the younger brother lost his body. The philosopher¡¯s stone can fix that, so they went on an adventure. It was set on in an alternate universe and their alchemy had slightly different rules. Trust me, you will not regret reading it.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t the alchemist community complained about it because it teaches the young generation that human transmutation will only end up badly? They were going well with the human revival technique but then this manga showed up and slowed down their process.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I remembered my granddad talked about it. They were about to publish the results of their research that confirms any living being can be revived within the five-minute timeframe before their soul leave our world forever. But who cares about that?! Sure, the announcement got delayed a few weeks but everyone was okay with it! Just shut up with your excuse and pull some time out to read it! Or else you¡¯re getting kicked out from the club!¡± It¡¯s was a bit amusing to hear a conversation about alchemy in the Mage Association. Aster then wondered if he should take some alchemy classes. It might come in handy when he returned to his home world. He put away that thought for later and focused on the book again.

    <hr>

    ¡°What rank did you get?¡± Aster and Eli walked over to Rey, who was standing in front of the same counter.

    ¡°C¡± He removed his hand from the pad. The automaton then continues to search for a suitable tester for his second trial.

    ¡°Impressive for someone of your age. However, you should¡¯ve waited after you begin your modern spells lesson, even if you have a perfectly good reason to rush it.¡± To that, Rey replied, ¡°I need to be prepared when I officially become a member of The Analytical Mind. Didn¡¯t want to potentially disappoint Arthur.¡± The female automaton found a match as he finished speaking.

    ¡°Mr. Reynard, please proceed towards the door at the far right and enter ¡®026¡¯ on the keypad.¡± Before Rey took his leave, Aster quickly asked the automaton, ¡°Can we go and watch him while he¡¯s being tested?¡± The automaton peeked at the screen for a second before she said yes. Some mages dislike others knowing their skills, but it seems that the one testing Rey was okay with it.

    ¡°Still, you could¡¯ve save that money for better purposes. Now you have to spend more to take another test.¡± The goat Demi commented, though Rey didn¡¯t reply. He trusts the young mage knew what he was doing, especially taking a free range Battle Mage license test.

    The trio stepped into a training room, padded with comfortingly white, incredibly damage resistance tiles on every inch of the surface. The door they entered was at the right side of the lobby, between two gigantic bookshelves, but when they found themselves in the training room, they were standing at one of the horizontal ends. A male elf can be spotted at the other end, staring at the first challenger of the day.

    The floor has a clear red rectangle drawn on it; the distance between the lines and the walls were only enough to fit two people. The limited space behind the lines was apparently designed for a small number of spectacles. Aster dragged Eli to the sides, making sure every part of his body wasn¡¯t crossing the line.

    ¡°Well, well, well. Two weeks into the Academy and you¡¯re already taking a free range license test. I wonder if you¡¯re just another stupid, enthusiastic kid or a serious, trained young mage. By the looks on your face, I¡¯m going to guess it¡¯s the latter.¡± Contrary to what fantasy RPG depicts, the experienced mage only wore a casual t-shirt, a pair of short trousers and sandals. He had a distinct green coloured short hair and blue eyes.

    ¡°My name is Jay, by the way. A rank mage. Nice to meet you, Reynard. Also, you might wanna tell your Kitsune to stay out from the lines.¡± Rey whispered to Hinoko and she leapt towards Eli. She settled down beside his leg. Rey has been trying to read his aura, guessing what are his personalities and which element he has the strongest affinity with. As Rey anticipated, he couldn¡¯t get anything. Seasoned mages know a secret technique to hide their aura, not giving their enemy any information on them. Rey hasn¡¯t learned how to do that (but he will someday), which was why Jay has already smiling like he¡¯s a winner.

    ¡°Training Challenge activate.¡± A tiny, murky black box appeared in the center of the room and expanded with lightning speed until it reached the red lines. Now, when Aster, Eli, and Hinoko perceive whatever¡¯s inside the lines, all the colours were dimmer, as if someone turned down the lighting. The same goes for the two inside the lines.

    ¡°Take a look at the wall,¡± two red 100 showed up on theright wall, ¡°100 HP for the both of us. The test is over when your HP goes down to zero.¡± Jay gazed into the challenger¡¯s eyes. He saw determination, tranquillity and not one bit of any sort of agitation or fierceness. The youngster knows he can¡¯t defeat the veteran, but he would try his damned best to achieve that.

    ¡°You have my respect, Reynard, even if it¡¯s only a little bit. You aren¡¯t like the others who challenge the free range test. All of them just mindlessly throw their spells at me and hold on to their crappy belief that if they put their heart and soul into it, they can defeat someone who is higher ranking than them like some sort of comic hero. You have a strategy to take down as much of my HP as possible and I¡¯m eager to see what you got. Ready when you are.¡±

    Rey gets into his stance, face with a confident grin and word out of his mouth.

    ¡°Ready.¡±

    ?End of Chapter 7?

    Advisor: Jigoku Shounen

 Its A Beautiful Sunday Indeed

    ¡°[Shield]¡± Both of the mages said under their breath. Their body were enveloped in an invisible, skin-tight force field. Since casting a spell in one¡¯s mind is significantly harder than doing it verbally, most mages would whisper out their spell. Due to the nature of Shield that constantly drains one¡¯s Mana, it is risky to use it from the start of the battle, which explains why neither of the mages wanted the other to know they¡¯re using it.

    ¡°»ðÇò, Îå!¡± Five fireballs appeared above Rey¡¯s head and were directed by his finger to fly towards Jay. Although whispering out the spells would ensure the enemy wouldn¡¯t know what to expect, it would definitely reduce its power. The explanation behind this is that the clearer the deities can hear you, the more power they can give. It might sound ridiculous, but when everyone believes it, it became real.

    ¡°Earth wall!¡± A big chunk of earth suddenly shoots out from the ground in front of Jay and stopped the fireballs, which took only one second to travel from Rey to him, ¡°Han, huh? I¡¯d never bothered myself to learn that. [Earth Spike]¡± Big, sharp cones jutted out from the ground around Rey. It didn¡¯t manage hit him as he was already moving when the veteran started talking.

    This was very bad for the youngster. He has strong affinities with air and fire, both of which are almost useless against the earth element. However, as long as he hovers in the air, the veteran would have a hard time hitting him. That was exactly what he did, he casts [levitation] and [ËÙ (speed)] while propelling himself even closer to Jay.

    The A-rank mage noticed Rey¡¯s tactic, but it won¡¯t matter much to him. If they were in an open field, this would be a problem. But because they were in a room, a specially designed one no less, he can use earth-based spells as freely as he wants. ¡°Earth--¡±

    ¡°»ðÁú!!!¡± Five meters away from Jay, at the angle of 45 degrees from his eyes, a gigantic, flaming dragon came into existence in front of Rey, cutting through the air and going straight towards the veteran with incredible speed. It completely startled the experienced mage for one whole second before he quickly dodged the dragon.

    To use such a powerful and Mana draining spell at the beginning of a fight is a bad decision in many scenarios. But when facing a kid he knew nothing of, it was a pretty good tactic to catch him off guard. The kid didn¡¯t know he didn¡¯t read his aura in order to play it ¡®fair¡¯, yet he put a smile to make him looked like he did. Now, his bluff has become ineffective as the kid definitely noticed his slow reaction.

    The dragon continued to pursue him as he moved around the arena. He didn¡¯t immediately use earth wall again because he would need to spend a lot of Mana to directly block the attack. He won¡¯t use the earth dragon either as it was considered to be a ¡®final attack¡¯. He tried to locate the kid but he didn¡¯t see him anywhere. The human might be using an invisible spell or hiding behind the dragon, trying to perform another surprise attack.

    Alright, running around to deplete the dragon¡¯s Mana would take too much time, and trying to damage the dragon bit by bit through intermediate water spells would be a risky move because there was no telling if the dragon has Mana absorption capabilities. He halted his movements, with the dragon closing in up front, and cast two spells.

    ¡°Earth Spear! Drilling Water Spear!¡± A large spear rocketed out from the ground, aiming at the incoming fire spell. Then, a layer of water materializes around the rock spear and began spinning around the smooth surface. Just before the dragon came into contact with the sharp spear, Jay¡¯s peripheral vision caught sight of Rey¡¯s body dashing towards him at his left. Before the kid¡¯s air spell could hit him, he turned his body to the left and summoned multiple earth spikes to pierce his body. However¡­

    Before he could mentally say ¡®oh shit¡¯, in a split second, the moment Rey¡¯s body vanished, he felt his feet being tied down to the ground by metal bands, his senses were all suddenly taken away, a strong gust of wind behind his back and the dragon came crashing down, leaving a huge cloud of smoke.

    Rey swiftly jumped from the lower right corner of the arena to a safer area before using another wind spell to clear out the smoke. As he anticipated, Jay was gone, but when he took a look at the numbers on the wall, his HP dropped to 70, which means the veteran managed to partially dodge a practically point-blank attack under the circumstances of having mostly all of his movement restricted.

    ¡°I have to say, that was a pretty good attack. You knew the water and earth spear spells are streaming spells, so I can¡¯t cut off the Mana supply fast enough to switch or instantly cast another spell to shield myself from the ambush. Should¡¯ve guessed you might use a mirage spell,¡± His disembodied voice echos through the room, yet his body could not be spotted.

    ¡°Although, you shouldn¡¯t have used the fire dragon spell, considering you just cast three non-affinity spells simultaneously. All of that must¡¯ve drained at least half of your Mana. Well, I hope you don¡¯t regret your decision. And now, we go into phase two.¡± Balls of rock suddenly blasted out from the ceiling and the ground.

    Rey¡¯s HP was brought down to 90 due to the tiny rock bullets hitting him at high velocity, which originated from all the hovering rock balls. He didn¡¯t feel any pain because of the Training Challenge; it turns all the damage taken into HP deductions. The novice quickly set up a wind barrier to deflect all incoming projectiles. As much as he wanted to use the metal barrier, it would consume three times more Mana than someone who has an affinity for it.

    ¡°You know what I want to see, Rey. Stop wasting your Mana on the pointless barrier. Also, you should really spend some time increasing the strength of your Shield.¡± Rey knew what he was talking about. He didn¡¯t want to do it because he only had a short amount of time practising it before coming to the Academy, plus, he always uses his Ingenium while doing it.

    The young mage sighed, closed his eyes and cast two spells before bringing down the barrier, ¡°·çÊ½: ¸ÐÖª½á½ç¡± A very thin layer of air grew into the size of the barrier, ¡°»ðÊ½: ÎüÄ§»ðÇò, Áù¡± Six baseball-sized fireballs appeared on the boundary of the barrier and began to move towards the rock bullets. When the bullets touched one of the fireballs, it immediately dropped to the ground whilst the fireball grew bigger insignificantly.

    Rey almost dropped to his knees after casting the fire spell. It was Mana consuming, but it would come in handy later. Once he stopped the barrier spell, he regained some stamina back, but the rock bullets rained down on him mercilessly. When one of the bullets almost hit the back of his head, he swerved his body to the left, his left hand brushed against the bullet (for the audience, it might seem like that, but it was actually a few centimeters apart), and instead making a dent on the ground, it just ¡®dropped down¡¯. The thin layer of air gave him the exact coordinates of everything within its range, allowing him to precisely react to each individual stone bullets.

    His body moved nearly as fast as the bullets, sucking up its Mana whenever it came close enough with his hands. Obviously, there was no way he could do that for all the bullets, which was why he willingly summoned the fireballs to lessen his load.

    As he slowly filled up his Mana ¡®storage¡¯, he sensed even more bullets coming in faster and larger. His HP slowly inclined as the bullets did not give him a breathing space to cast any other spells and were getting more and more hits on him. He wanted to use his Ingenium so bad, but he resisted the strong temptation.

    ¡°Hey, wait a minute. The pendant around your neck is a Mana container! That counts as a magic tool!¡± He tried to scare the kid, but it didn¡¯t elicit any sort of response at all. Either his mind was too busy reacting to the next bullet or he already called off the veteran¡¯s bluff. Looking at his aura, it seems to be the latter, ¡°I guess I should¡¯ve stopped my attacks to make it more real. You know, even if the container is empty and is practically a decorative item, you should be glad that I allow the test to continue. If it¡¯s somebody else, you won¡¯t be so lucky.¡±

    ¡°Playtime¡¯s--¡± That word was the moment Rey has been waiting for. He opened his eyes, deactivated the air sensory spell and sent all six, now big fireballs towards the ceiling. As it flew to its destination, the fireballs aligned itselves into a straight line, with equal distance between each fireball, from one end of the room to another. Right before it touches the ceiling, Rey shouted a command.

    ¡°±¬!¡± BOOM! The fireballs exploded and the entire ceiling came crashing down, along with a familiar face. Rey already ¡®scanned¡¯ the ground beneath him and found no trace of the veteran, hence he must be hiding within the thick ceiling, escaped when the smoke cloud was created. Jay quickly retreated to the other end of the room, but Rey was getting closer by the second.

    ¡°Sleep powder!¡± A bunch of vines broke out from the ground with conspicuous flowers grew on it. Then, a huge amount of visible blue spores were shot out from the flowers. The amateur halted his advancement and used an air spell to create a safe breathing space around his head. However, the spores were too much, so he had to slowly burn off those. The A-rank mage bought some time for his next spell to be fully activated.

    ¡°Phase 3, Rey. Earth armor!¡± Chunks of debris fell from the ceiling attracted itselves to Jay¡¯s body. As the rocks merged with each other, the shape changes to better fit the mage¡¯s body; not too thick to be slowed down, but not too thin to be easily breakable either. When Rey could finally breathe safely, the veteran¡¯s armor has been completed; only his eyes were not covered to allow him to see clearly.

    ¡°Alright, Rey. If you can maintain at least one HP for ten seconds after I cast a speed boost spell, I¡¯ll give you a B+ rank, okay? Speed boost!¡± His movement was so fast, it was as if he teleported to right in front of Rey and punched the young mage¡¯s stomach with all his might. Luckily, Rey was fast enough to focus all his Mana on his stomach (Shield spell). Unfortunately, it did not stop Rey from flying backward and hit the not-so-invisible wall (arena boundary) hard. His HP instantly fell to 40.

    When his eye caught vision of the armored mage leaped into the air and prepared to deal another round of damage, he tried to flee under the mage. It was a failed attempt, however, when a huge pillar of stone extended from the veteran¡¯s feet, and another huge pillar burst out from the ground squeezing Rey in midair. After Rey¡¯s HP dropped to 20, he used Dispel to break the pillars and fell to the ground, facing upwards.

    Jay was faster than Rey, using earth spells to bound the kid¡¯s body onto the ground tightly. Rey used Dispel again and again, but Jay¡¯s casting speed was faster. As the veteran jumped very high directly on top of Rey, he prepared to unleash his final attack. The amateur gave up escaping and consumed all of his remaining Mana on his last spell as well, at least this way he could cut down a few more of the veteran¡¯s HP, possibly increasing his chance to achieve a higher rank.

    ¡°»ðÁú¾í·ç!¡± A massive flaming tornado came into existence and was aimed towards the veteran. He smiled and roared his spell, ¡°Aqua Blade!¡± A long and sharp blade made with water appeared in his hand before using it to slash the tornado in perfect half and driving Rey¡¯s HP down to zero.

    Jay plummeted down to the ground, deactivated his armor spell and earth spell that was restricting Rey, and offered a hand to lift him up. After Rey stood up on his two feet, the tester called off the Training Challenge and the two spectators sprinted towards their friend.

    ¡°That was awesome Rey!! You¡¯re so cool the entire time! Especially when you attack him while the fire dragon hits!! That was epic!!¡± Eli acted like an innocent child after watching an action cartoon, his eyes glinted with respect, excitement, and awe. Rey couldn¡¯t stifle his wide smile after seeing Eli¡¯s adorable reaction.

    ¡°I¡¯m amazed, Rey. I certainly did not expect you to have such proficient skills.¡± Said Aster with a proudful expression. He knew Rey was good, but he still greatly underestimated the training his junior received.

    ¡°Hello~? I¡¯m still here, you know?¡± Jay put down his waving hand after the trio had paid their attention towards him, ¡°I understand you guys wanna have a heated conversation about the battle just now, but I have some things I want to say first.¡±

    ¡°Rey, our battle just now was very refreshing, and I want to thank you for that,¡± Aster and Eli was a little bit confused, but Rey doesn¡¯t seem to be surprised, ¡°I have been in charge of this particular test for newcomers since last year¡¯s summer. And let me tell ya, it was boring as hell. SO! Thank you very much for that battle, and now we move on to the analysis. Usually, we don¡¯t do that, but I found you quite fascinating, so there¡¯s that.¡±

    ¡°First off, the fire dragon. I had to be honest, I did not expect you, a person who seems to rely on smart strategies, to use that powerful spell right off the bat. Usually, it would be the dumbest move during a battle. However, since I didn¡¯t read your aura and know practically nothing about you, it was a good, yet quite risky, ploy. Then, when you drive me into a corner, you used a light spell to create an illusion, a metal spell to limit my movements, a dark spell to obscure my senses, the fire dragon to temporarily distract me and a finishing wind spear for the ambush attack. That was definitely great. If you had been trained even more, I wouldn¡¯t have escaped with more than 50 HP.¡±

    ¡°Next up is the, hmm, I shall call it ¡®Mana absorption part¡¯. Yup. That part really blew my mind. I was expecting you to use other methods to absorb the Mana from those rock bullets. But you sir, you used the physical absorption method splendidly. You must¡¯ve had one hell of a master training you. Did you come from the Outer Regions? It¡¯s hard to believe any kid from the city or the Residential Region would be willing to undergo that kind of intense training.¡± Rey nodded. He didn¡¯t really like letting outsiders know he came from the Outer Regions, but he didn¡¯t mind in this situation.

    ¡°And for the final part, heh heh, I went a little overboard. It was originally supposed to be CQC spell battle with me using partial earth armor, but after witnessing you performing the physical absorption, I decided to skip an entire section. However, fear not fellow challenger! It only affects your ranking in a positive way. The fire tornado was executed pretty well too.¡±

    ¡°Now, the ultimate question! What rank should I bestow upon you? The answer is----B-!¡± Eli didn¡¯t understand what the rank actually mean and Rey was impassive as ever. Only Aster has a significant emotion changes, ¡°Wait, really? I mean, it¡¯s a fantastic thing for Rey, but--¡±

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re trying to say. I was supposed to give him a C+ rank, but this boy here really impressed me. Although I¡¯ll probably get scolded for this afterward, nevertheless, I believe that he can reach the rank I gave him in a short amount of time, given that he has good and consistent training. One more thing before you leave,¡± He stared down at Rey¡¯s eyes, ¡°I understand that your affinity with fire and air would not be very beneficial to you when facing someone which has strong affinities with earth and water. In order to counter those attacks, you¡¯ll need to draw massive amounts of Mana to cast spells you do not have an affinity with. Hence, I would like to teach you a special skill to overcome that problem.¡±

    ¡°Whenever you use a spell that is not fire or air in nature, add ¡®Vincit¡¯ after the spell and it will reduce the Mana cost. Of course, at the beginning, you won¡¯t see any substantial difference when you cast a non-affinity spell. However, as long as you kept on using ¡®Vincit¡¯, in training or battle, one day, no matter what category the spell belongs to, you will find no difference, in terms of Mana consumption, when casting those very spells. As a side note, this would only work for traditional spells. Your affinity would increase the intensity but will not affect the Mana consumption of modern spells. That¡¯s all I have to say. I hope we have the chance to meet each other again.¡± He winked.

    Rey bowed slightly at Jay before he and his friends exited the room. They walked back to the counter and waited about a minute for the automaton to process his license. After that, they went back to the dorm to have their lunch. Although Aster suggested Rey that the three of them should go to a restaurant outside the Academy to celebrate his success, Rey insisted they go back to the dorm for lunch to save money, and because he thought this wasn¡¯t that kind of a big day.

    ¡°What do you want to do now? Continue exploring the Academy? Play some games? Or do you want to spend some time outside the Academy? If you want to do that, I¡¯ll need to call my friend. I¡¯m still not fully familiar with the city...¡± He proceeded to gulp down another spoonful of ice cream. Since they didn¡¯t go to some fancy place to eat, Rey agreed to have ice cream as dessert. So now the three of them were enjoying their delicious sweetened frozen food.

    ¡°I want to meet with Alan.¡± He then scooped up a half spoonful of matcha ice cream and enjoyed it in his warm mouth, ¡°Why?¡± Eli asked. He wonders how Rey felt to have an underling. If he was Rey, he would just not care about the thug, he¡¯s still a bad person after all.

    ¡°To save him.¡± Now both the non-human was confused. He noticed the expression on his two friends, put down his spoon and let out a small sigh.

    ¡°From what I can tell, he must¡¯ve only recently joined their group, presumably since the incident last year Ada mentioned. I did a little digging around and I found that he didn¡¯t commit any crime prior to the incident, so that was probably a test to proof that he got what it takes to join a gang.¡±

    ¡°Remember those guys following behind Alan? They are a part of an infamous gang called The Skull. Those individuals are most likely his ¡®superiors¡¯, from what I can tell from their aura. The reason they followed him around was either because they got nothing better to do, which I highly doubt, or that they were observing him up close on how he works due to the fact he was still relatively new to the gang and they were probably thinking whether or not they want to let him into their inner circle.¡±

    ¡°But, after seeing him failed twice in a row, they¡¯re definitely giving him a hard time. They¡¯ll either pester him, bully him or do something even worse to him. It¡¯s pretty safe to assume that they invested a great amount of money and time on him, considering the skill he had to hack into the dorm¡¯s system. If so, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be willing to let an asset go just like this, hence the reason why I need to ¡®save¡¯ him, help him cut his ties with the gang.¡±

    ¡°Before you two go ahead and praise me like I¡¯m some sort of saint, I would like to say that half of the reason I¡¯m doing this is for my own selfish gain. After I am officially a Solver working under the Analytical Mind, I would indefinitely need some technological help to tackle a few problematic cases. I might have a lot of knowledge in many fields, but technology is absolutely not one of them. Until I had spent enough time mastering this field of study, I need someone like him to help me out. Plus, maybe I can learn more about how different technology works from him if he can and is willing to teach me.¡±Stolen novel; please report.

    ¡°As for the other reason...I know for certain that he didn¡¯t choose...to walk down this path, otherwise, he would¡¯ve had go ahead and challenge me again already. Heh,¡± Wow. Just¡­wow. That must be the first time they saw Rey said so many words in one go and the first time they hear such a sensitive sentence came out of his mouth. The both of them were thinking how to react with...all of this while Rey just casually finished the rest of his ice cream. The non-human duo silently emptied the contents of the freezing cup in front of them.

    ¡°Hey, do you know the name of an old manga which tells the story of a boy goes around the world to collect some magical stone for his sword? I think?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know that one. It has a really good story and a satisfying ending, unlike the author¡¯s new manga which he completely butchers the final story arc. Seriously, I wonder what is in the guy¡¯s head to mess up an ending to a super popular manga.¡±

    ¡°Dude, you¡¯re getting off track. Tell me more about the old manga, I¡¯m wondering if I should spend some time reading it.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see...Within the time of the story, fifty years ago, when the original owner of a legendary sword tried to destroy a powerful and evil crystal, he fucked things up and accidentally destroyed an entire kingdom. After fifty years, the MC, a teenager living on a faraway island, got a visit from the now old sword wielder. Some bad guys from the mainland show up, then the MC found out he was the second sword owner, which explains why the original owner can¡¯t use the sword¡¯s power after arriving at the island. They fight, the good guys win, the original owner tells him he needs to collect four stones with awesome power that is the good counterpart of the evil crystal to save the world and then the adventure officially starts.¡±

    ¡°Wow. I¡¯m pretty sure you just spoiled the first story arc for me, but whatever. Now I¡¯m really interested. So, what¡¯s the title?¡± At this point, Aster and Eli had finished their ice cream and Rey began to speak once more.

    ¡°We go to his room right now, see if he¡¯s in there.¡± The three of them got up and sauntered towards the elevator, ¡°Rey, are you sure you can trust him? I don¡¯t doubt the part where you say he didn¡¯t choose to become what he is today, but that doesn¡¯t mean he won¡¯t be trying to--¡±

    ¡°Aster. Don¡¯t worry about the future. Now, we just focus on making Alan get himself as far away as possible from The Skull.¡± Rey¡¯s words were always reassuring. The goat Demi put away his skepticism and composed himself. His junior was right, even if Alan turned out to be a problem at the end, they¡¯ll find a way to solve it.

    Knock, knock, knock. Rey stood before the door to Alan¡¯s room whilst the other two were right behind him. They waited for awhile but there was no response. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK--

    ¡°ENOUGH!¡± The door slide opened and Alan, his words laced with fiery rage, appeared in front of the youngster, ¡°What are you doing here?! Wait, let me guess. Let. Me. Guess. Are you finally here to order me to do your bidding? Oh wait, you¡¯re a ¡®good¡¯ guy, you can¡¯t possibly want to force me to do something I don¡¯t want. If that¡¯s the case, SEE YOU LATER ASSHOLE!¡± And the door shuts back again. Knock Knock Knock. No response. Knock--

    ¡°Well hello there, who do we got here?¡± Rey heard the deep but soft voice and turned his head to the left. The individual was a very handsome and charming elf. He was older than Aster, has a quite muscular body and a tall height, and wore expensive, trending clothing with the shades of black and purple. Behind the elf stood three of the people who were seen following Alan during his previous encounter with Rey.

    ¡°AHA!¡± The door slid open again and Alan jumped out screaming at Rey, ¡°You have fallen into my trap and you aren¡¯t going anywhere! You--¡±

    ¡°I know you still have your drones watching me, dumbass,¡± Said the youngster while clearly expressing his discomfort due to Alan¡¯s shouting, ¡°And I know for sure you will give them a call in order to try and make the best out of this chance, hence the reason I¡¯m visiting you, to save an extra trip to meet your boss.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Reynard. You can call me Zed.¡± The muscular-looking elf reached out his hand. Rey didn¡¯t even bother to greet with the elf and get straight to the point, ¡°A formal Challenge. If I win, your gang, no matter who it is, will not come into contact with Alan anymore, no matter the circumstances unless I said otherwise.¡±

    There was a moment of silence before Zed spoke, ¡°Very well, then. If you lose, however, not only you will work under my orders,¡± His attention shifted to the other boy, ¡°Your little friend here will join you too,¡± His eyes went back to meet with Rey¡¯s, ¡°How about it? Are you willing to take up the Challenge? Of course, I shall allow you to choose any type of Challenge you prefer.¡± His overall gentle demeanour and the soothing, thick accent voice would make anyone hard to imagine that such a person is one the leading figure of a crime syndicate.

    ¡°What?! Are you kidding me?! Just Force him and--¡± A furious glare from his boss interrupted his sentence and he was forced to stay silent, however angry he was. A few minute passed as Rey was focusing hard on coming up with a Challenge that would benefit himself but wouldn¡¯t make the intimidating individual felt like he got an ace up on his sleeve. After all, just because he gets to choose doesn¡¯t mean his enemy would agree instantly. He also doesn¡¯t want to risk anything by using his Ingenium.

    ¡°May I provide you a suggestion? I¡¯m sorry if it appears as if I¡¯m going against my word, but I am an impatient man and my time is precious. I wish to resolve this...problem as fast as possible.¡± The youngster thought for awhile before nodding. If the Challenge Zed suggested was acceptable, he could modify a little bit of the rules so it would be advantageous to him.

    ¡°Seeing that the both of us are individuals who are talented in the art of knowing the characteristics of people, hidden or not, by simply observing them, the Challenge will involve the two of us telling each other one thing the opponent might not know about our mutual acquaintance here, Alan.¡± No one expected him to declare a Challenge that includes observing Alan, especially the man himself.

    ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Would you mind keep your voice down, Alan? Or do I need to give you another round of the Special Treatment you love so much later?¡± Zed then plastered a sinister smile on his face for Alan to see, but changed it back to his regular smile when looking at Rey again, ¡°So, Reynard, would you like to hear more about my suggested Challenge or do you finally have one in your mind?¡± The boy didn¡¯t say anything, so the elf continued.

    ¡°It is as simple as it sounds, we observed Alan and tell each other one thing the other might not know about. We cannot have any interaction with Alan himself, and he cannot do the same to us, but we can observe him. However, since I know him much longer than you do, we shall hold the challenge within his room. I would only be allowed to study his room with my eyes while you can inspect it however you want, to make it more ¡®fair¡¯, but, you can¡¯t access his computer. You do not need to worry about cheating, the Challenge can be set to prevent that. So, what do you say?¡± It didn¡¯t take ten seconds for Rey to think it through and said,

    ¡°Agreed, but with one more rule. After one of us pronounce a fact, if the other doesn¡¯t know about it, he can have five minutes to find evidence, either an item, the state of an item or his reaction to certain things and say it out loud to know for certain that the fact is true.¡±

    ¡°No. Five minutes is too long, it¡¯s simply not exciting enough. How about thirty seconds? After all, your reputation precedes you.¡± The youngster pondered the counter for a few moments before nodding.

    ¡°Oh, and one more thing. The both of us won¡¯t be allowed to use any Mana related tricks, no magic, no Ingenium, no aura reading. And definitely, no Circulum, okay?¡± Another nod, though this time with a tinge of annoyance, ¡°Very well, let us proceed to enter Alan¡¯s room then.¡± Alan was clearly unhappy about their decision, but it¡¯s not like he has a choice anyway. He stepped aside and let everyone into his room.

    The room, unlike Rey had imagined, was awfully clean and tidy. The room was almost identical to the one Rey lived in, except the bunk bed was a fancy bed for one person, there were no windows, the walls had a few posters on it, the table beside the bed sits a high-grade PC, the table right to the door had a lot of mechanical tools on it and two extra receptacles horizontally below the bed. The room was also very dim due to the darker shades blue as the colour of the wall and the fact that the brightness of the light was very low. Rey absolutely detests dark rooms when the Sun is still hanging in the sky.

    ¡°Now, should we start?¡± The two of them set up the Challenge after getting into the room. Obviously, Alan was also dragged into the Mirror Dimension. Once they had initiated the Challenge, the three of them vanished from the room. All of them were still in the same room, but the three of them can¡¯t see the others, the same goes for those who were not involved in the Challenge. There were two floating spheres at the side of Rey and Zed.

    ¡°Who should start first? You? Or me? I will take your silence as my cue to start first.¡± And indeed the silence followed, ¡°Here we go, then.¡±

    ¡°He has a fetish for a woman wearing a skirt during sex.¡± Rey remained impassive, Zed showed a wicked smile, and Alan¡­After five seconds, Rey has completed the analysis he needed and the transparent sphere emitted a bright red light.

    ¡°Although the blushing hasn¡¯t occur, the indication of the upper half body stiffening while trying not to shake his legs, which he, unfortunately, failed to do so, coupled with the biting of the lips and directing high exertion of force from his fingers to the palm is enough evidence to support that he indeed have that fetish you spoke of.¡± The bright light went off and Zed gave him a smile as a sign to continue.

    Rey took a look at all the posters on the walls. There was a poster of a magitech* tournament, a few astoundingly beautiful game posters and a poster with the scenery of Section 8 of Astral. He walked towards one of the receptacles and gandered at the clothes and items inside it. He spotted a peculiar suit, almost like a whole body swimming suit but with signs on it. It seems to be magic repellent. Rey made his way back to his original spot.

    ¡°Despite having a passion for magitech, Alan has been losing interest in it and has been hesitating to quit. He wanted to join the Magitech Tournament, but couldn¡¯t bring himself to do that.¡± Zed¡¯s expression turned curious. He quickly took a look at the posters then glanced at the table beside the door before the sphere lit up.

    ¡°The poster of Section 8 and the magitech poster was enough to indicate that he had a passion for magitech. However, the latter poster wasn¡¯t on the walls which the two table faces, it was instead placed beside the door to the kitchenette. He still had the poster, which means he is, or was, enthusiastic about the tournament, but he didn¡¯t place it in front of the desks where he works with magitech, which means he is indeed hesitating.

    The tools on the table were arranged in perfect order and nothing else was on it. No completed or in-progress machines of any kind were there. This indicates he was readying himself for the tournament, but he hasn¡¯t even begun to try and create something that would fit the theme for this year.¡± The light in Zed¡¯s sphere vanished. Rey knew it was stupid to do what he did, but he didn¡¯t have much choice. There was no telling what the elf might know, he can only count on his intuition.

    ¡°You know, what you said technically count as two facts, but, I am very forgiving. Now, my turn. Alan misses his father.¡± The blonde¡¯s expression immediately turned from ashamed to anger. He furiously glared at the grinning elf. He wanted to punch him in the face, but he held back because he didn¡¯t want to cause any more trouble for himself, and also because the Challenge wouldn¡¯t let him.

    Rey began to panic for a little. The Challenge system didn¡¯t react with Zed¡¯s statement, which meant what he said was true despite Alan¡¯s complete opposite reaction to it. He hated his father, not missed him. His wish to meet his father again must be lying within the subconscious level, hidden deep within his heart. This was not a positive situation, most people wouldn¡¯t display their innermost desire outside their heart, especially when someone was consciously suppressing that very desire under a mountain of rage.

    Rey¡¯s mind was racing. Since it¡¯s pretty much impossible that Alan would keep a picture of his father, it¡¯s most likely he would keep some sort of memento that would remind of his father. Maybe something his father gifted to him or something his father used to own? None of the stuff on Alan¡¯s body right now were older than five years, so it couldn¡¯t be his father¡¯s. Rey was making two assumptions:

    One, what Alan¡¯s father did must¡¯ve been on the news and not something like cheating on his mother or simply ran away. Zed knew when he said that sentence it would enrage Alan, which meant that what his father did was obviously public knowledge. If his father didn¡¯t appear in the news in any way, Alan definitely won¡¯t tell anyone about his father and Zed couldn¡¯t know about it. He highly doubts The Skull would look that deep into someone¡¯s background, especially someone new to the gang.

    Two, what Alan¡¯s father did must¡¯ve happened a long time ago and it probably happened in the Residential Region. Think about it, if it had happened in the city, there is no way not one person would not mention about his father when they see him. The people who lived in the city never forgets terrible things that happened. It definitely didn¡¯t happen in the Outer Region as well, because nobody would care even if he killed someone. Next is the incident which caused Alan to hate his father. If it had happened recently, or rather, it if had happened during the time when Arthur was already in the Academy, he would definitely tell Rey about it. Arthur is eighteen this year, so anything in this room that was younger than five years absolutely does not belong to Alan¡¯s father.

    Rey was unquestionably certain that anything he saw in the room with his naked eye at that moment wasn¡¯t older than five years. He bolted to the nearest receptacle and frantically searched for any evidence. The older human wanted to stop him from rummaging through his stuff, but the Challenge system, once again, forbids him to interrupt whatever the real Challengers were doing.

    When Rey finished looking around the receptacle, he quickly dived into another receptacle. Then another, and another. He found an entire section of the receptacle was dedicated to games. It¡¯s funny that game companies still sell games by physical copies instead of their customers just downloading it. They were paranoid about piracy and hackers, but doing this increased the price of the games, which was just stupid. Unfortunately, none of the cases seemed to be older than five years old. He determined the age by shoving all the cases to the ground and see if any of it have signs he was looking for.

    Before he dived into another receptacle, he noticed something about the games. He took a fast glance at the game posters, then to the setup of the PC, then back to the games. The sphere lit up with just four seconds before the times up. Now, both of his hands were holding few of the games he shoved onto the ground. A glimpse at Alan¡¯s face confirmed his theory.

    ¡°Reynard, I almost thought you lost. It would be quite a disappointment if you did. Now, I look forward to your explanation.¡± Rey was once again back to his original position.

    ¡°When I first saw the posters and the setup of the PC, it was obvious that Alan plays famous MMORPGs, professionally. However, when I discovered his stash of games, it was apparent that he also play games of other genres. At first, I didn¡¯t pay much attention to the games because all of them definitely doesn¡¯t belong to his father,¡± Alan¡¯s face twitched at the mention of that word, ¡°I was certain he would keep something his father once own to remind Alan of him. But, I didn¡¯t consider another option until I took a better look at all the games sprawled out on the ground.¡±

    ¡°The games were all ¡®open world games¡¯, except for a handful of them. There¡¯s nothing odd about it, people might prefer one genre but would sometimes willing to try other types of game. Still, I have my suspicions. When I place even greater thoughts into examining all the peculiarity of that small group of games, I found my answer. You see, my mother was someone who loves to play games, so, naturally, I had a lot of knowledge about them. The main point is not about the genre of the games I have in my hand, it¡¯s the year which they were released.¡±

    ¡°None of the games on the ground right now or the games in those posters are older than eight years old. However, the games in my hands are all release before Alan was even born. Now, why would someone play old games which aren¡¯t even that great when they have other, better games? Not only that, the other same genre games are all somewhat similar to the ones I have in my hand. In conclusion, Alan¡¯s father must¡¯ve played these games before and now Alan plays it as a way to remember him because he misses his father.¡±

    ¡°Bravo, Reynard,¡± He slowly clapped his hands then stopped, ¡°I am impressed by your ability. Just think of what we can achieve if you work under me. Now, please continue.¡± Rey grinned grimly.

    ¡°Alan ÓÐÒ»Ö»¹·.¡± Zed¡¯s face darkened while Alan was confused, ¡°You didn¡¯t say I can¡¯t use any language other than Elven to deliver the statement.¡± That devilish grin said it all. Seeing that Zed couldn¡¯t understand one word of it, so ultimately, he lost. However, it was odd that he didn¡¯t show any type of negative emotions. The three of them were sent back to the real world. Eli and Aster wanted to ask who won, but Zed spoke before them.

    ¡°Congratulations, Reynard. You defeated me. From today onwards, The Skulls no longer have ties with Alan. But, before I go,¡± He raised up his index finger then lets it down, ¡°I want to know the answer. What did you actually say? Is it something hard to find?¡± Rey giggled wryly for a short second before answering.

    ¡°No. I said that he has a dog. There were quite a few indication of him owning a dog littered in this room, but too bad you couldn¡¯t understand my delicate language. I¡¯d love to fight fair, but I love winning much more.¡± Ah, there it was, Rey¡¯s infamous victory smile.

    Zed remained silent before saying, ¡°Well played, Reynard. Well played. Let¡¯s go.¡± He and his minions proceeded to left the room. After the room was a few meters behind them, the elf ordered his minions coldly, ¡°Remember to tell the others about this. I don¡¯t want Arthur Bell to come picking a fight with us.¡±

    Back to Alan¡¯s room, Aster and Eli were celebrating about Rey¡¯s triumph. However, their celebration was cut short due to the fact that Alan was chasing them out of his room.

    ¡°Get out!! I don¡¯t want to see any of your faces!!¡± Rey stood directly in front of Alan with a door in between them, ¡°Hey, Rey saved you from those guys! Shouldn¡¯t you be a little more appreciative?¡± Aster was unhappy with his attitude.

    ¡°Appreciative?! HA! Do you want me to also say thank you out loud?! Or even kneel before this brat because he just destroyed my future?!¡± The goat Demi wanted to lash out on the nasty human, but the cool human stopped him. Rey reached out his hand, with a sarcastic but sincere smile on his face,

    ¡°Hey, at least you got yourself a new friend today.¡± The blonde stared down at his hand before slapping it away, ¡°See you at dinner, then.¡± He turned back into his room and the door slid back. The youngster knew his senior was going to speak again, but he was faster.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not speak about this anymore, Aster. Right now, we talk about what we should do to pass time until dinner rolls by.¡± Rey turned to the left and ambled forward. The other two quickened their steps and caught up to him, Eli at his left while Aster at his right.

    ¡°Say, Rey, did you know there is an arcade in the Academy? Wanna check it out right now?¡± ¡°Lead the way.¡±

    <hr>

    The moment his dinner landed in front of him, Alan had three visitors plus a fox with their own meal in their hands occupied the seat beside him and the two empty chairs at the other side of the table. That must¡¯ve been some effort to time this perfectly. Alan was preparing to leave but Rey gave him a command.

    ¡°Alan, stay.¡± The blonde felt his body was being forced down onto the chair. Words came out of Rey¡¯s mouth before Alan thought to resist the command, ¡°But, if you really want to leave, to eat your dinner somewhere else, all alone by yourself, feel free to do so. Just remember, we¡¯ll be here for you.¡± Alan immediately tried to stand up again and he succeeded. The three of them didn¡¯t bat him an eye when he left the table. Nevertheless, he still came back minutes later because he can¡¯t find any empty seats and all of them ate together, awkwardly.

    The three of them ate at the same speed as Alan so that they could act out the next part more ¡®naturally¡¯. The older human wanted to quickly get away from them after cleaning up his plate, but Rey stopped him, once again.

    ¡°Alan, wait.¡± It wasn¡¯t a command as the younger human grabbed his hand to halt his movement. Alan pushed away Rey¡¯s hand, annoyingly swerved to his back and leered at him, ¡°I already ate dinner with the three of you, what else do you want?¡±

    ¡°Come with us to see the night sky together. There are no clouds tonight, the view is going to be amazing. You won¡¯t regret it.¡± Rey didn¡¯t use any commands, which meant that Alan could just walk away and don¡¯t give a crap about him. But, what else was he going to do? He wasn¡¯t in the mood to play games, and he definitely wasn¡¯t going back to his room to study. In the end, he half reluctantly followed the trio to the roof.

    The roof was really large and was pretty well decorated. It was a surprise that the entire floor wasn¡¯t VIP reserved since it got a really nice scenery of the city and the sky. There weren¡¯t many people alongside them, so it was quieter than Alan would have expected. He thought Rey was going to find a spot near the border for the four of them, but he just used the levitation spell and carried them towards the top of the elevator. It got nothing on the surface and it was sure as hell very clean. The dorm management installed an alchemical circle on the entire roof to easy it up the cleaning process.

    Anyhow, the four of them plus a fox sat into their comfortable positions and just enjoyed watching the stars.

    Alan wondered if he could ever understand what was in that kid¡¯s head. He was his enemy, he hated him, but, in the end, he reached out his hand and called him ¡®friend¡¯. Maybe he¡¯s thinking too much, the kid might just be doing all this to use him, after all, he is talented. Heck, he knows for sure the kid was definitely doing all this so he could get some benefit from his underling.

    Still, in his heart, he hoped. He hoped that no matter the thousand reasons his mind came up with that was trying to convince himself not to fall for the trick, he can finally have friends, real and tangible friends. He always dreamt of this moment, watching the night sky with his friends. Of course, it was nothing like he imagined, he still hated the kid after all! But, maybe, one day, one day he could finally step out from the prison he created for himself. Until his dream really comes true, this would have to do for now.

    He just relaxed and try not to get too emotional.

    ?End of Chapter 8?

    Advisor: Jigoku Shounen

    *Magitech--Like biotech, but it¡¯s magic + technology.

 The Tour of Astral! Part 1

    ¡°Hello, Rey. It¡¯s has been quite some time since we went to the Wunderkind Banquet,¡± Said Elizabeth with a smile on her face. Her happy expression then into a sad one, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for my immense workload, I would¡¯ve love to spend some time with you and Eli together. Is he in the room right now?¡± The smoke-white haired boy was sitting on the couch, which was why she couldn¡¯t see the brunette doing some homework at his own table.

    ¡°Yes.¡± He took a glance at the brunette and saw him already removing himself from his seat. The boy plopped down on the couch beside his friend and entered into Elizabeth¡¯s view, ¡°Hello Elizabeth~¡± He waved his hand shortly at the screen with a big smile. Elizabeth grinned back.

    ¡°Nice to see you again, Eli. How are you doing? Is my recommendation a big help to you?¡± ¡°I, um, I¡¯m doing great! Your recommendation really helped me! The professors were all very nice to me and I learned a lot of things!¡± He totally nailed his performance. He felt really nervous when talking to her again, but the acting class he took, to help him interact more naturally with strangers and also because it was his secret hobby, had prepared him for this moment.

    ¡°Good to hear that you¡¯re having a great time. I wanted to check on you but I didn¡¯t have time until now. On the contrary, Rey¡¯s actions weren''t that hard to keep track of, considering Arthur has rather became ¡®obsessed¡¯ with you. Excellent work on your first case as a ¡®sidekick¡¯ with your assigned Solver mentor, by the way. To think you could string up two seemingly unrelated cases into one, you really are something, Rey.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your praise.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Now, onto the reason I called you. Every year, the Student Council would organize a one-day trip around the grand city of Speir, Astral, for newcomers. Since any student who is younger than the age of fifteen cannot go into the city without the company of person at least two years older than them, this is a fantastic chance for those who didn¡¯t live in the city to know more about it. Of course, we can¡¯t have all the newcomers go on this trip, otherwise, it would turn into a disaster, which is why there is an extremely limited quota for those who wants to go. Since I am the Vice President of the Student Council, naturally I could reserve two spots for my two lovely juniors if I wanted to, which I did.¡±

    Both of their Circulums let out a notification sound as soon as she stopped speaking. They check their inboxes and found a virtual ticket inside, ¡°So, do you both want to go to the trip? Or do I need to withdraw those tickets back?¡± Eli seemed to have made his decision already. Rey, on the other hand, was still hesitating whether or not to spend the entire day doing something that might not worth his time. Seeing that both of them are distracted for the moment, Elizabeth blinked once in less than a tenth of a second.

    ¡°Rey, you need to know that you should relax yourself every now and then. I understand you do not wish to waste your time, but trust me, the trip is definitely worth every single minute of it. It is a great opportunity to understand more about the place you now live in. Perhaps you could even learn a few new things.¡± Rey let out a soft sigh and finally nodded. He was getting a little bit bored to do nothing but studying for the past week.

    ¡°Great! Tomorrow morning, the two of you will board the 8.00 train with a special sign on it, which the ticket also bears. The expenses of your meals will be paid by the Academy, so remember to enjoy the food of whatever Section you stopped at. Maybe even buy a souvenir or two. And now, I have a request for the both of you. Think of it as an indirect payment for the tickets.¡±

    ¡°Could the both of you record your entire experience of the trip? I¡¯ve never gone to the trip before, nor do I have friends that do. I really am curious to see what sort of things that would happen during your journey. That, and another reason. There is something, in particular, I wanted to see, I¡¯m confident both of you will recognize it when you two board the train.¡±

    Remember to enjoy your time with Rey tomorrow. ¡°Remember to enjoy your day tomorrow!¡± She ¡®winked¡¯ at them before ending the call. Eli was stunned. He totally didn¡¯t expect Elizabeth would say that to him telepathically. He couldn¡¯t help but blush slightly. Although, he was a little bit relief to hear that too. He thought she also gave him the ticket, despite the fact he lives in the city, was because she somehow knew about his secret.

    It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a real secret, it¡¯s just something he didn¡¯t want others to know about. Nevertheless, he has been looking forward to spending some time with Rey and this is the perfect chance. He needed to thank Elizabeth later.

    Rey wanted to ask about the sudden blush and the reason why he would want to go on a city tour even though he lives here, but the boy just kept those questions to himself. He started to think about what sort of things he needed to bring to the trip tomorrow.

    <hr>

    The morning was quite cold; he could see Eli and a few others rubbing their hands together. He insisted they should wait for the train outside the dorm five minutes before it arrives even though Elizabeth gave them VIP tickets. It was because the entire lobby was full of students also waiting to board the train and he does not look forward to swimming through the crowd at the last minute. However, the real reason for his actions was because he was trained to be anywhere he should be at least five minutes early.

    He took a glance at the other individuals waiting outside the building alongside his group. He saw a few dwarves, humans, different Demis, two good-looking goblins, three ghouls, a group of korrigans, and one elf. He thought elves hate being an early bird is a misconception, but only a single elf who woke up early in this elf-population dominant city seems like a pretty solid evidence to say elves would only get up long after the sun does. There were more waiting beside them, but Rey didn¡¯t bother to see their faces.

    Five minutes before 8, he saw a tiny speck at a distance making its way straight towards them. Initially, he wondered why did the train came from the direction of the Sea Region and not from anywhere else, then he realize it was because it needs to pick up other students that didn¡¯t live in the dorm. Only those who had excellent results during the entrance test for the Academy were allowed to live in the dorm. As for the students who didn¡¯t ace the test, they had to find empty rooms located in several residential areas in each Section. And if they were extremely unlucky, they had to find a place to live in the Sea Region.

    The reason Rey didn¡¯t realize this immediately was due to the fact that he didn¡¯t really pay any attention to anything related to the Academy before he got in. He took the entrance test for the Academy is because that¡¯s what the other kids in his age do. Only when he was informed that he got accepted into the Academy and was granted permission to live in the dorm he started to research more about his future school.

    When the train finally arrived, Eli was a little confused. He imagined the train to be incredibly long and everyone has to push each other to board it. But, the reality was that the train was only about the size of a regular carriage. He recognized the drawing on the side of the train below the windows, it was the same sign on their tickets. Rey beckoned Eli to enter the first door together with him while a few other people entered the train through the remaining four doors.

    The interior of the train was quite simple. In between the five doors, there was a long bench, attached to the wall, on each side of the train, which could only fit five people. The floor was grey, but the walls, the ceiling, and the benches were all painted in relaxing colours such as blue and green. The windows were really large and were only separated by the doors, connected from the top of the bench¡¯s backrest to a small part of the ceiling. There was an additional room at the end of the carriage. It was separated from the rest of the train by a metal wall with a sliding door in the middle. It¡¯s most likely to be a resting room for the five older students, who were wearing Student Council ¡®activity shirt¡¯, standing beside each door.

    When the duo (and the Kitsune on Rey¡¯s shoulder) stepped into the carriage, they saw ten people were already on the train, all of them sitting on different benches, except for the two familiar faces.

    Jack stood up upon noticing one of the boys he met during the banquet with the intention to greet him, but no matter how hard he tried he can¡¯t recall Rey¡¯s name. He ended up standing there like an idiot, his mouth opened but no words came out and his face resembles that of a desperate man.

    ¡°It¡¯s Reynard.¡± Said he as he slumped down on the empty spot left to Jack. ¡°Reynard! Right.¡± He slowly sat back down, with his head aimed at the impassive boy, ¡°Just Rey will do.¡± His posterior once again, this time with a sense of awkwardness, found itself comfortably on the bench, ¡°Okay¡­Rey.¡± After a few seconds, he attempted to explain himself.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to forget your name. It¡¯s just, we¡¯ve only seen each other for a short span of time during the banquet and we didn¡¯t meet again at all after that. I¡¯m not great at remembering names either, so...I guess I¡¯m saying that I am sorry, for forgetting your name.¡±

    ¡°Apology accepted, Jack.¡± The train began to fill with noises as all of the empty seats were slowly taken. There were six people squeezing each other on the opposite bench and it was fairly obvious that all of them were all friends, which meant that there would be an empty seat on this bench. Rey was glad that Eli didn¡¯t need to sit beside someone he doesn¡¯t know; he was certain that the non-human wouldn¡¯t enjoy the trip as much if he did.

    ¡°Sooo, uh, Rey, did you buy the VIP tickets? Or did Miss Elizabeth gave you and¡­.your friend the tickets?¡± Dammit, Jack scolded himself in his head, Shouldn¡¯t have asked that question. Now I¡¯ve embarrassed myself again.

    ¡°She gave it to us, and, My dear friend here is Elliot, but he prefers to be called Eli,¡± Rey wrapped his hand over Eli¡¯s shoulder, ¡°And my Kitsune here is Hinoko,¡± He scratched her head, causing her to let out a satisfied growl, ¡°Don¡¯t forget their names.¡± Then he removed his hand from the other boy¡¯s shoulder as he blushed.

    ¡°I won¡¯t. I promise. Emily,¡± He used his elbow to nudge the girl beside him, ¡°You should say hello.¡± The girl in question peeked at the duo with an unemotional face. She has a pair of big, adorable, navy blue eyes; her silky, purple hair was long, and her entire forehead was covered by her bangs; her face in overall resembles a cute, endearing doll. Her near-black blue, long sleeve t-shirt dress (the lower end of the ¡®dress¡¯ was identical to those anime wavy skirts), grey/blue tiny tie and stocking, and a pair of black, seemingly cartoonish boots on her thin and small body could make almost any male want to pounce on her. Even Eli had the thought of asking her if he could pet her and was trying his hard to resist the temptation.

    When she laid back at her seat without doing what Jack told her to, he sighed and put up an apologetic smile, ¡°It seems she¡¯s not in the mood to talk right now. So, err, your tickets were given by the Vice President, huh? As you would¡¯ve guess, my ticket and Emily¡¯s were given by Damien. I told him I don¡¯t need it, someone else might want to have it more than I do, but he was a stubborn person and he quite literally force the tickets onto me. So, now I¡¯m here with Emily.¡± He¡¯s not sure why he told Rey about this because the youngster doesn¡¯t seem to care about what he said.

    ¡°Dear students, our trip will soon begin, please step away from the doors. Thank you.¡± As the doors closed after the announcement, the duo activated their Circulum and began recording. When the train started propelling itself forward, Rey answered Jack¡¯s question before he could think one out, ¡°Elizabeth asked us to record our journey on the train.¡± He was genuinely surprised, but he didn¡¯t ask how the boy did it. It was weird, yes, but when compared to his time in his hometown, it was nothing. Jack was more interested in how he didn¡¯t feel any inertia when the train moved. The technology in Speir is indeed impressive.

    ¡°Good morning, my fellow students!¡± A person burst out from the separated room. When Rey raised up his head to see who was the owner of that smoky voice, he told himself he should¡¯ve known why Elizabeth wanted them to film their trip.

    There was a subtle pause between Damien¡¯s last sentence and the next. He managed to hold back his astonishment at the moment of revelation and continued speaking with an enthusiastic grin on his face, ¡°My name is Damien Teufel. Usually, I am the President of the Student Council, but today, I am your tour guide.¡± A few students instantly started chattering about why one of the most important man in the Academy was here entertaining them.

    ¡°Some of you might wonder ¡®Why in the world we have the President of the Student Council be our tour guide for today?¡¯ Well, if you do have the question in your mind right now, my answer is, I¡¯m bored.¡± Then, a wider grin and a wink. A few students chuckled, even those way back at the other end. The train was equipped with hologram projectors, which was why there are two more Damiens in the train, one in the middle and one at the other end. The projectors made sure the three Damiens were absolutely identical with each other except for the fleshy body to ensure all the students have the same, perfect experience. Words came out from the dragon daemon¡¯s mouth once the chuckles died down.

    ¡°Alright, in all seriousness, I always wanted to have the experience of being a tour guide. It seems fun, so I appointed myself to do this job. Now, before we start, there are a few things all of you should know. Number one, if any of you have any questions you want to ask or if there is any emergency, the attendants here will provide the help you need. I would ask all of you to remember their names, but they have name tags on them, so...¡± This time, not only the younger students were amused, the older ones found their president¡¯s performance quite hilarious.

    ¡°They will also be responsible for your safety during the time we spend outside this train. So, please, please stay by their side and don¡¯t go wandering off by yourself, or with your friends. We don¡¯t want that. You might be in danger if you do, and we don¡¯t want to waste our time finding those who got lost like a crazy parent.¡± Eli was really impressed by Damien. He never would''ve thought the scary and super serious person he met on the banquet could be this funny. The way he spoke, the tone and hand gestures he used when he was talking, it made Eli wondered if the both of them were actually the same person at all.

    ¡°Now that we got that out of the way, let me tell all of you a story. A long time ago, and I mean a really long time ago, Speir was inhabited by different countries of different races. These countries constantly wage war with each other for various reasons. But,¡± he lifted up his forefinger, ¡°there was one country that didn¡¯t go to war with anyone. In fact, this country, a trading country, was the reason why the entire Speir is now under the rule of our current government. This city we live in, right now, was once the kingdom that united this world. Pretty awesome, right?¡± His finger was withdrawn.

    ¡°Some time after they had established the government we have today, they decided to renovate their new capital. What they did, in the end, was separate the city into eight Sections. There were a few major reasons to why they did it, but we¡¯re not going to talk about this right now. If you really want to know, I would recommend you to take Prof. Jensen¡¯s history class. That man is amazing at teaching.¡±

    ¡°So, the point is, the city was split into eight big Sections, and each of the Sections has a theme which corresponds to the eight worlds at eight Cardinal Directions. They numbered the Sections from one to eight, beginning at the northernmost Section, then continued in clockwise and ends at the northwest section. The Section we are currently in is Section 5, AKA the Land of Pleasure, AKA Freude.¡±

    ¡°I assume all of you are familiar with the Seven Sins? Sloth, Gluttony, Pride, Lust, Greed, Wrath, and Envy. This Section is built upon the idea of these sins as its theme should correspond with Hel. But, of course, this Section has more than just that. It is also the place where most psychologists, sociologists, philosophers and economists gather. After all, in this place, you can see the purest form of humanoids¡¯ desires and interactions. It might be a bit demeaning to say this, but the truth is always painful.¡± Damien¡¯s face turned serious for a moment before reverting back to his joyous expression.

    ¡°Freude have seven Sectors which have one of the Seven Sins as its theme.

    In the Lust Sector, you will find brothels all over the streets, stores which sell sex related items and a few research centers to either explore more methods to allow an individual have more diverse ways to satisfy their mate during an intercourse or invent new items which will make their experience even more¡­spicy, if you get what I mean.

    If you¡¯re a hardworking individual and you want to relax after a rough day at your job, you can visit the Sloth Sector. You can find various services there which will help you loosen yourself up, physically and mentally.

    Everybody experience wrath before, right? When you¡¯re angry, you might want to find something to punch, especially at your friend if he owes you 2000 Crowns and he still hasn¡¯t paid you back the money even though it has been over two years. In this case, you can visit the Wrath Sector to let go of that anger building inside you.

    Ever imagine yourself as the legendary hero in your bedtime story? Where you slay the villain and everyone else is willing to worship you like a god until you die? If that¡¯s the case, look no further from the Envy Sector. There, you can have the experience of living as anyone you look up to or as someone you wish to be, or perhaps you can even live a life you never thought you could have.

    I dare say the most well-known Sin out of the seven is Greed. In the Greed Sector, you may find yourself inside the most popular casino in the entire world, or even the entire realm! You will encounter many chances to instantly struck gold there, but be warned, the risk you take might be larger than you think. And if you made a bad decision at the wrong place, at the wrong time, the consequences can be deadly.

    Remember what I said about the psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, and economists? All of them are inside the Pride Sector. The other reason why they¡¯re here and not in the other Sections was due to a statement, many centuries ago. It goes something like this, ¡®Because they thought if they study how we and our society functions, if they understand everything about us, then they are above us. They are better than us. They will be so swallowed up by their pride that it will eventually become their downfall.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Okay, I admit that last bit was quite heavy. But, let¡¯s move on to the final area, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I humbly present you--¡± The train stopped as he holds off the rest of his sentence, then he waited a full second before raising his hand and let the doors at the right side slid open the moment he snapped his finger, ¡°The Gluttony Sector. A place where you can taste almost all edible or drinkable items that ever existed, including the latest cuisines as well. Shall we go out and take a look for yourself?¡±

    All of the students, most of them with an excited expression, followed their nearest temporary guardian out of the train and onto the near-transparent elevator. The view after stepping out of the train was spectacular. The buildings on each side of the street were decorated beautifully according to what they are selling. There was a seemingly endless line of food stalls at the center of the empty road. The elevator slowly descends.

    Rey, instead of looking at the direction everybody was gawking, stared at whatever¡¯s below the multiple high train tracks. He saw a bunch of people sitting on the benches placed against the two opposing pillars. There were electronic boards on the walls showing the time of each arriving train and their destinations. He noticed a group of people standing up and walked into the elevator behind them. The elevator ascended to the space between two train tracks and all of the people inside it board the train which just arrived.

    After all of them reached the ground, the attendants gathered the students into a big group while Damien briskly walked towards the front. All of the youngsters stared at the attendants standing still in front of them as Damien, standing in the middle of those five, spoke, ¡°Right now, we are standing in the middle of the most important street in the Gluttony Sector. It has been here even before the Sector itself existed.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Due to our tight schedule, we can¡¯t have all of you exploring the entire street to find a place to eat your breakfast. So, you can only go to any of the food stalls or buildings between here and the largest food stall over there. See that? The one with lots of flags on top of it? That¡¯s the one. We will gather back here after twenty minutes*. Don¡¯t be late, okay? All of you may leave now.¡± The large group split up into smaller groups, each led by an older student. When one of the attendants was calling the four of them to join his group, Damien told the vampire that he will handle these four.

    ¡°Alright your four, let¡¯s go.¡± His voice went back to the serious tone Rey heard during the banquet a little. Damien lead the way, Jack and Emily sauntered beside him, Rey and Eli followed right behind them. A few seconds after looking around at their surrounding, Jack asked, ¡°Damien, this is a road right? Why aren¡¯t there any vehicles on the road?¡± Rey was glad the boy asked this question as he was also curious about this. He had a pretty good guess, yes, but he wanted to hear it from someone who knew. He¡¯d only been to the city twice during his entire childhood, and he didn¡¯t bother to try and recall the details of those memories.

    ¡°The vehicles were all in another dimension, akin to the Mirror Dimension we have in the Academy. It was a safety measure, the government built these roads, then they created multiple dimensions based on this one and attached a magic software to any vehicles, which will allow them to enter any of those dimensions. This way, accidents and traffic jams can be avoided.¡±

    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s amazing. I doubt this world will ever cease to amaze me. Hey, can we go take a look at that stall?¡± He pointed his finger at the food stall ran by two Onis. He looked to his back at Rey and Eli, seeking for their approval. Both of them nodded; they didn¡¯t have any idea what to eat anyway. Jack smiled in delight and they made their way towards the rather large stall.

    There were tables and chairs placed in front of the stall for the customers while the chefs prepared the food behind their stall. Only one table was occupied by two people, the others were still empty. They chose the table closest to the stall because it was an elongated table bench which can fit six people on both sides. The duo and the fox sat on one side while the other three, with Jack in the middle, at the other.

    They read the menu, and it was apparent that the owners of this stall were experts in making ramen. In front each of them was a touchpad which functions as a menu where you can just place your order and a cash register which will deduct the Crowns in their Circulum.But of course, Damien would be the one paying. After they had decided what types of ramen they wanted to eat and ordered it, Jack shot a question at Rey.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were supposed to film your journey? I don¡¯t see you doing any recording.¡± To this question, Rey replies, ¡°There is an app which records everything within the range of ten meters[Can zoom in in detail within 10 meters], 360 degrees, automatically.¡± ¡°Huh, I guess it was a good thing I asked then. I didn¡¯t know there¡¯s an app that can do this. I should probably check it out later...¡±

    ¡°So,¡± Damien¡¯s voice came out abruptly, ¡°Did Elizabeth gave the both of you VIP tickets in exchange for the recording of your time during the trip?¡± The duo nodded, but Eli did it awkwardly, ¡°*Sigh, I should¡¯ve seen this coming. The moment I saw you both, the first thought that entered my mind was ¡®how can I not predicted that Elizabeth would send you two to find ways making fun of me¡¯. But, it seems like I don¡¯t need to worry about that at all.¡± As soon as he stopped speaking, their food floated to their table and landed in front of them.

    After they finished their breakfast, there was still some time left, so they decided to went into one of the souvenir shops. On the way there, Rey asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your sword? Did you put it in your PDS?¡± He looked at the PDS hovering on top of Jack¡¯s shoulders, beside his yellow coloured gem earring.

    ¡°No. I wanted to have my sword on my back at every moment, but Damien told me I would draw a lot of attention. So, he taught me a special trick to store my sword in a way that I can summon it anytime I want.¡± After he made sure the daemon in front didn¡¯t hear what he said, he lifted his arm, his hand facing the sky, and with a twitch of his wrist, the sword appeared. When his hand lets go of the handle, it vanished into thin air.

    ¡°Impressive.¡± Said Rey. In the end, both he and Jack didn¡¯t buy anything from the souvenir shop, but they did buy the supposedly one of the top ten meat buns across the street under Damien¡¯s recommendation. Eli bought some sweets from the shop whilst Emily bought a lollipop. All of the students were back on the train right on time and they were off to their second destination.

    ¡°My fellow students! Did you enjoy your breakfast?¡± The tour guide asked loudly and enthusiastically, ¡°Yes!¡± the young passengers replied with full of energy, ¡°Fantastic! Now all of you have seen what the Gluttony Sector can offer, we will now continue towards the next Sector, the Sloth Sector!¡±

    In this Sector, the train stopped in the inside of a huge complex at the base level. The environment was very relaxing; soothing music, cool air, and decorations with the intent to ease up people¡¯s stress. Those who manage the complex did their best to let their customers feel like they were free from their worries. Due to the time constraint, the trip¡¯s participants were only allowed to explore certain parts of the complex and the stores inside it. Eli bought a pillow which would give him a better sleeping experience, Rey had his eye on a lucid dream inducer, and Jack brought home a nightmare eraser. He didn¡¯t let anyone seeing him put that thing into his PDS, not even Emily.

    The next Sector they went to is the Envy Sector. All of the shops there either had large virtual reality machines for customers to live the life of a specific virtual character or selling them at a high price. Some virtual experiences require the ¡®player¡¯ to stay in the virtual world for a long period of time whereas some resemble arcade games. Most of the youngsters chose to play those games and all of them had a thrilling and a one-of-a-kind experience, except for Rey. When he saw the Memory Reliving Machine, his heart urged him to walk into the machine. He used the entirety of his rational mind to deny the seduction and subtly escaped into the street to catch his breath.

    After Envy, they went to the Wrath Sector. To summarize the Sector in the simplest way, one could just say that it is one massive playground of destruction. Everything there was designed to let people release their inner rage. Of course, the more destruction a service allows you to do, the more it costs, which was why the students practically just went to another arcade in another Sector. However, unlike the one in the Envy Sector where everything they do only has an effect on whatever¡¯s on the screen, this one allows them to play it in a more physical sense.

    The next Sector bored a lot of the train¡¯s passenger. In the Sector of Pride, there wasn¡¯t anything special or unique. Many probably would consider this Sector as the ¡®normal¡¯ part of the entire Section. Although, there are three museums dedicated to the history of psychology, sociology, and philosophy. They were all free to visit because the students had the VIP tickets. Eli was particularly interested in the displays in the psychology museum while Rey spent his time carefully so he could see what all three museums have to show. Later, when the duo went back to the train, Jack told the two of them that aside from the museums and the research centers, the other thing which stood out from the other Sectors were the attitudes of the employees of the shops they went. Those employees treated them like they were serving a deity.

    Pretty much all the boys and girls acted in a more reserved manner when they arrived at the Lust Sector. They wanted to explore the stores and shops but they don¡¯t want to be the first. No one was going to look at them differently if they went first, but they still felt a bit uneasy. There was only one person who acted first and went into a store which sells sex toys, and that person was---Eli. It was Eli, not Rey, not anyone else. He just casually walked into the stores and glanced at the items sold in the store like he was no stranger to all of this stuff. When he noticed the others were looking at him, he wanted to zap out of the store. But then Rey joined him as to not let his friend felt embarrassed. After that, both the boys and girls tried to browse the shops around them as normal as they could.

    During their stay in the store, Rey overheard something interesting. Two girls, a dwarf and an elf, were whispering to each other.

    ¡°Hey, I just remember I wanted to tell you about something.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Last night, I had the most erotic dream ever. I couldn¡¯t remember the details, but I think I had sex with a boy in my dreams.¡±

    ¡°You too? I thought I was the only one. But in my dream, the boy and I also have sexual intercourse, but with our genders swapped much later.¡±

    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s weird. So, we have a succubus in our dorm?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Succubi are dream demons, but incubi are not. And why would a succubus visit us girls anyway? This is really strange.¡±

    ¡°Maybe the ¡®succubus¡¯ was born with an incubus father and succubus mother! That¡¯ll explain it!¡±

    ¡°No, it won¡¯t, you dummy. That will never happen because both succubus and incubus have a strong, natural repulsion with each other. They were biologically impossible to fall in love.¡±

    ¡°But we live in Speir, the place where impossibles are possibles. There might be a chance for this to happen. If not, how do you explain what happened?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I care that much. It was a pleasant dream, after all. But, if the management caught wind of this, whoever¡¯s entering our dream might be punished.¡±

    ¡°Aww. I hope no one would report this. I wanna have a second round.¡±

    ¡°Ugh, seriously?¡± The girls stopped talking. Rey thought maybe he could do some research to see if it really is possible for a succubus and incubus to fall in love.

    Finally, they went to their last stop in this Section. The crowd in the Greed Sector was massive. Not just any kind of massive, pretty much every inch of ground in this Sector was occupied by somebody. This is the only Sector all of them had to stick with each other because if one of them got lost in the sea of people, it would take hours to find him or her back. Nevertheless, the casino they went opened up their eyes. All the people there were either wearing extremely expensive clothing and betting with crazy amounts of money or begging security employees not to throw them out yet because they felt the Goddess of Luck would bless them in their next game.

    ¡°Now that we had explored every Sector in this Section, I have one more question for all of you before we head towards the next one. Did all of youenjoyed your time in Freude?!¡± ¡°YES!¡± ¡°Excellent! Now, allow me to briefly introduce to you the Industrial Section, Erde!¡± He waved his hand and the ceiling became invisible. The students ¡®Woah¡¯ in unison when they witnessed multiple tall and large neighbouring buildings.

    ¡°Originally, Erde was a gathering place for professionals which expert in fields of study related to earth. For example, geology and hydrology. This is because the theme of Erde corresponds to Razerus, a world mostly inhabited by the most vicious elementals you can ever imagine, which is why this section also handles the legal tradings of elementals. Due to the presence of these elementals, they shaped the environment around them in a way that it would produce immensely powerful minerals. Many would ship in minerals from not only Razerus to this place with every intention to sell it to the highest bidder. These minerals were also studied by scientists as well.¡±

    ¡°However, the government figured that stuff takes up only a small space in the wide Section, so they introduced the manufacturing industry along with chemistry researches into Erde. Of course, the factories you see here are but a tiny percentage of all the factories exist in Speir. The rest of them are located in a few districts in the Residential Region. You can consider most of the factories here as ¡®experimental factories¡¯ as new items were created here to test out the quality and were refined over time so that it could be made in large quantity in the same pristine condition.¡±

    The locations they visited in this Section wasn¡¯t nearly as exciting or interesting as the previous one. They briefly visited a few factories then spent the rest of their time in a museum. It displays every conceivable type of minerals in high-security glass boxes and shows the products smiths would make from them. The only thing interested Rey and Jack in this Section was Damien¡¯s explanation when they visited a factory which produces meat.

    ¡°This is the meat factory. Whoever lives within the borders of the Inner Region will know that the meat we eat every day no longer originates from any living beings. But for those who don¡¯t, this might sound really, really weird. You see, in the past, there has always been a group of people protesting that we shouldn¡¯t eat meat. Their argument was that since we can obtain all the nutrients our body needs from plants, so why do we need to cause unnecessary harm to other less intelligent living beings? They were ¡®vegans¡¯ and they have always been a minority, that is, until the birth of the Web.¡±

    ¡°Their numbers began to grow and they¡¯ve started criticizing individuals who eat meat very harshly. Some even went to the extremes by calling out certain races who needs to eat meat in order to survive. Of course, those against them have their own arguments, saying that ¡®it has always been this way from the beginning¡¯ or ¡®this is the circle of life¡¯. As you can tell, those aren¡¯t compelling arguments. Time passed, the situation got worse. Those vegans started to make ridiculous claims such as announcing a few types of plants can give you certain benefits even if there are no scientific proof. They would go such lengths to force pro-meat societies to not eat any more flesh from living beings. Luckily, the scientists finally had a breakthrough.¡±

    ¡°Although magic can create something from nothing, it was not an easy task to achieve. During that time, scientists had managed to invent a 3D-printer, a device which would consume its unique raw material and transform it into pretty much anything imaginable, as long as it is inorganic. Without a doubt, they wanted to use this achievement to take technology another step further. Finally, during the height of the ¡®Vegan War¡¯, yes they used this lame name to refer to this episode of history, scientists had invented a new 3D-printer which could print organic items. And the raw material used to print things? A specifically engineered chemical compound which could be manufactured in large scale with low costs and will deal absolutely no harm to any organic life. It was a miracle.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t hard to picture what happened next. All professions related to killing animals or beasts and process their meat became obsolete within a day. This also includes jobs which require people to grow and harvest edible plants. The pro-meat societies were overjoyed, they no longer need to handle the pressure from vegans. Ironically, a lot of those vegans began eating meat because their main reason for not eating it has vanished. Now, only a tiny portion of the residents in this world still maintain their ¡®green¡¯ diet.¡±

    ¡°As a side note, the 3D-printer, even today, still have some flaws and incapabilities, so a lot of jobs which everyone thought would vanish persisted. Another thing is that the people of Outer Regions still continued their old way of life. They still bred animals or beasts in their farms and eat their meat. If any of you want to know why, you can join a history discussion group in the Academy to find out the answer.¡± They visited a few other factories before returning to the train.

    ¡°I can see all of you had your enthusiasm drained from your body. Except for a couple of you. But, I¡¯m confident that the next Section will lift up all of your spirits. The next Section we¡¯re going will provide you any equipment you need to survive in other worlds and the people there will teach you any skills you need to live another day in the wild. Welcome, to the Section of warriors, Yuusha no Tochi!¡± The train crossed the Section border and arrived at a new one. The buildings which the train passed by were all intimidating, grand, and ferocious-looking.

    ¡°Yuusha no Tochi, The Land of Hero in elven tongue, is a place where one can acquire everything they need to endure even the harshest situations. This Section¡¯s theme corresponds to the world once wholly consumed by a never-ending war, Tenebrae. It was said that the hero who finally brought peace to that world once spend a long period of time here, in this Section, to train himself so he would be strong enough to destroy any opponent who steps in his way. Many inhabitants of this realm, after they heard the legend of this brave hero, assembled to see what sorts of training did this hero undergo. After a few centuries, Yuusha no Tochi, which I will refer to as YuunoTo for the sake of simplicity, had thrived and became a renown location for those who wish to become stronger.¡±

    ¡°The headquarters of the Blacksmith Guild is located here. They can provide services such as making custom weapons or armors for any individual. Then there are stores which sell premade weapons, armors, military grade surviving tools, survival apparatus, tactical gadgets, and a whole lotta other stuff. There are also various centers that teach people how to recognize different things in the wild and utilize them to help you survive another day, train people how to climb dangerous landscapes or escape from different kinds of beasts or understand the signs of natural dangers. Dojos exist too. They are sparsely scattered around the Section. No matter, if it''s a karate dojo, a kendo dojo, a mystical art of defence dojo, all of them, can be found right here.¡±

    The attendants were just as excited as the boys and girls. They first went to the local museum built by the Blacksmith Guild. The collection in the museum was incredible; the Guild hired adventurers to scour all the world to collect and restore lost weapons, ancient armors, tools used by famous individuals, and much more. The museum also held an exhibition on that day displaying all the latest weapons and armors, whether it¡¯s made from the most advanced technology or from various materials imbued with magical properties.

    The exhibition displayed battle equipment for both sexes, which was why a huge part of the girlswas as absorbed by the pristine, intrinsic items as pretty much all of the boys. Rey was particularly engrossed by the various models of different categories of guns in the museum displays and in the exhibition, especially middle range and long range ones. Jack was, it goes without saying, obsessed with all kinds of swords, some even wielded by heroes, in that place and scrutinized every single one of them. Emily, on the other hand, was attracted by the shiny, hulking armors and the sexy, stylish ones, like those seen in a fantasy harem manga. As for Eli, he just ambled around, paying not much attention to one specific item.

    The next place they went was a central store for all things survival. Specially designed tent to repel vicious predators, an automated drone to easily catch any medium-sized animals or beast, mountain scaling equipment which would put an earth elemental to shame and much more stuff like this is available in the store. They didn¡¯t hang out there for long. A few students did buy some stuff though, including Jack.

    Then they went to the dojo Sector. It doesn¡¯t just have martial arts dojo, it also has standard military training, training centers for all kinds of weapons and tons of unique battle styles anyone can learn. The students can watch whatever¡¯s happening in the buildings, but they must not interrupt the people inside in any way. Rey carefully observed the techniques used by the masters of Wing Chun, Eli stuck with the larger group and went into a building which the people inside taught them a few self-defence tricks whilst Emily followed Jack into a training center to seek information about the many schools of swordsmanship.

    ¡°As all of you know, Source, or Mana, is the single most important entity on our planet. It is the reason why we are alive and everything around us works. Not only that, Source have the property to alter our perceived reality. Many studied this mysterious life force and utilize it to accomplish many impossible feats, which is why the next Section we are heading is the prestigious Sanctum of Mana, formally known as Anima.¡±

    The design of the structures which the train passes by was a mix of modern and ancient. One building stood out the most was the one in the middle of the Section, which was still quite far away from the train. The building was titanic, its architecture older than anything in this city and its sign, with the words ¡®Magic Association¡¯ in archaic language on it, was big and clear and anyone in the Section can see it.

    ¡°Anima¡¯s theme corresponds to the world of Arcadia, home to the light elves and all things magic. Just for disclosure, magic is also a word to represent everything that is related to any field of study concerning Mana. Now, some facts you need to know about Arcadia. Light elves are amongst the most Mana sensitive species in the realm. Their ability to control magic rivals that of a dragon¡¯s. Since they weren¡¯t as uncaring about the world as the scaly beasts, they did everything they could to learn more about Mana. They merely study it and experiment with it, they care not about the consequences of their action while quenching their thirst for knowledge. Eventually, they noticed what they did and began finding ways to save their world. And that is when they stumbled upon Spier.¡±

    ¡°At that time, Speir hasn¡¯t had much intelligent life such as humanoids residing it, but there were still plenty of scholars and adventurers there. The light elves sent there to search for a way to cure their land found a mysterious individual which agreed to help them only if they would share their knowledge and populate Speir with intelligent beings. The elves signed a deal with the individual and so the prehistoric version of Anima was born.¡±

    ¡°Section 8 used to also function as a library for keeping records of all the things that happened in Speir from the moment the light elves set up their outpost here. Then, when the Academy was built, all of it was transferred to the library inside the building. Now, Anima solely focused on researching how to utilize Mana or Source even further through pre-established fields of studies and invent new magical items, apparatus, furniture, and many other things.¡± He activated his Circulum and glanced at the digital clock before continuing.

    ¡°Would you look at the time. I¡¯m sure some of you are already craving for food to fill up your empty stomachs. The train will make its first stop in Anima in front of a famous restaurant. Not only the food they serve there is absolutely savoury, the way they prepare it will surely entertain you all. When we reach there, all of you will follow me to our reserved seats and we shall have our meal. And please, don¡¯t cause any commotion.¡±

    The train halted in front of a flashy, ten story building. Red was its theme as it practically covers the entire structure and a huge holographic orange/yellow/red sign was seen plastered on the windows of the top few floors. All the passengers stepped out from the train and followed Damien¡¯s lead. When the doors slid back up, the train magically vanished and, a few seconds after that, another longer one took its place.

    The group went straight to the elevators across the rowdy dining hall. It took a couple of turns for all of them to be on the same floor, but it wasn¡¯t time-consuming as it only took one second for the elevator to reach the fifth floor from the first. While inside the elevator, Rey saw a button which allowed customers to go to a ¡®toilet floor¡¯. Damien succinctly explained that once you pressed that flat button and walked through the door, it will automatically scan a person¡¯s gender and sends them to the appropriate bathroom.

    The entire floor was practically a large, individual room. As the duo stepped out of the elevator, they saw that there was an elongated counter, with unique chairs in front, along each side of the walls, although there was an empty space in front of the elevator and the emergency stairway beside it, and a stupidly huge round counter at the center of the floor. Behind the counters were chefs and ingredients for the food they would serve. They made use of the sunlight by reflecting it in a way that would brighten up the floor and gave it a special atmosphere.

    The tour guide directed the young students to take a sit at the round counter whilst ensuring none of their actions was bothering the other customers. All of them sat close to other students which they spent time within the same group. The second all of the trip¡¯s participants found a place to put their butts on, Damien began introducing what this restaurant has to offer (all of them can hear Damien¡¯s voice clearly through a small device attached to the attendants).

    ?End of Chapter 9?

    *[One second in this world is two times longer than a second in our world]

 The Tour of Astral! Part 2

    ¡°The Deus Cibum restaurant is famous for their one-of-a-kind method to deliver their customers¡¯ meal. As you can see, there is no kitchen tool of any kind in sight,¡± The youngsters stared at the kitchen table, past the transparent glass separating the smiling chefs from their adorable customers, and saw various raw materials in pristine conditions and different kinds of tableware, but not a single kitchen tool, ¡°The entire cooking process relies only on magic and nothing else. Of course, they weren¡¯t the only one who uses this method, but they are certainly amongst the first, or even the ones who came up with this idea. Now, let us watch how our meal will be prepared as the chefs here will begin cooking one of their popular dishes for you to enjoy.¡± He gave the chefs a signal and they began to work.

    ¡°Woah. This is impressive. How are they doing this?¡± Jack asked no one as he watched the chef in front of him heating a tiny ball of two types of meat wrapping each other with fire coming out from his finger, then drench the cooked meat with sauces before using some sort of vegetable leaf covering up the meat/sauce tightly and placed it on a small plate on the table. For the final touch, the chef melted some cheese on top of the crunchy leaf and repeated the same process for the next one.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know about Will Magic?¡± Damien overheard the boy sitting beside him and asked, ¡°Will Magic? I only know about people using magic in the form of spells. What is it?¡±

    ¡°Will Magic is a sub-branch of magic which functions entirely on your will. You use your thoughts instead of spells to achieve the same effect.¡±

    ¡°So, does that mean I can do anything spells can do just by thinking? If that¡¯s the case, then why isn¡¯t everyone using this type of magic?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Everyone can use Will Magic, but they simply have no ability to do so. Just like playing a musical instrument: you might have hands to play them, but that doesn¡¯t mean you automatically know how to play it. One would take decades, or even centuries to be able to use it with ease. However, that only applies to you if you want to master the entirety of the branch. There are many types of Will Magic, the most common one is the elemental bending, which actually most individuals can do. Now, to answer your original question. Take a good look at the chef¡¯s fingers. What do you see?¡±

    Jack didn¡¯t take long to notice the ring-like items on the fingers, ¡°They are wearing something on each of their fingers. Those things allow them to use Will Magic? It seems more like telekinesis to me than regular old magic.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still part of Will Magic. And yes, those devices allow them to manipulate the ingredients, but only the ingredients. Those things only provide certain functions for the chef to use, so you don¡¯t need to worry about any of them using explosive magic in front of you.¡±

    All of them had a fabulous time watching a live performance while eating. Many students praised the delicious food; they claimed it has a special taste to it, but Rey doesn¡¯t think so. To him, it¡¯s probably the unconscious messing with people¡¯s senses due to high expectations. After Jack finished his meal and saw Rey was also done, he drew closer to the impassive boy a little bit.

    ¡°Hey, Rey. I¡¯ve been wanting to ask you a question,¡± He paused to wait for the boy¡¯s reply. He turned his head towards Jack before adjusting it back to its original position and said, ¡°Continue.¡±

    ¡°Did you remember what the other kid said during the banquet? What was his name again? That guy with squinty eyes?¡± ¡°Oliver.¡± ¡°Right! Oliver! He said something about ¡®protagonists¡¯ and ¡®heroes from the stories¡¯. Why did he say something like that, as if we...as if we are...¡±

    ¡°As if we are living in a fairy tale? It¡¯s not uncommon for someone to say something like that in front of you. Speir is filled with real life heroes and many of them were immortalize through legends. They exist everywhere at any time in this world. It wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if you or I suddenly appeared in a novel or fable one day.¡±

    ¡°So...are you telling me there has constantly been a fight between good and evil in this world so much so that it¡¯s a common occurrence?¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have too much doubt. After all, you have quite a story to tell yourself, don¡¯t you?¡± Rey stared right at his eyes before turning back, as if he was telling him ¡®You are also one of them.¡¯ After finishing their lunch, they proceeded towards the largest and most important museum in Anima.

    However, some of the students protested. They were tired of going to museums and they want to go to places with fun stuff in it. Damien seemed to have predicted this situation and so he proposed a solution. All of them would go to the museum first. When they reach there, those who wish to visit the museum will get off the train while those who don¡¯t will stay. The train will take the rest who stayed in it to the Entertainment Sector. After the ¡®museum group¡¯ have spent their time there, they will meet with the other group, spend another controlled amount of time there before moving on.

    It goes without saying that most of the passengers remained in the train when it arrived at the museum. Initially, Eli wanted to go to the Entertainment Sector with Jack and Emily, but, after a quick choice making, he decided to not leave Rey¡¯s side. The obvious reason was that he didn¡¯t exactly feel comfortable going somewhere unfamiliar without his ¡®brave¡¯ friend. However, he has something he wanted to check out in the museum, at least he hoped that it would be in the museum.

    To much of Eli¡¯s surprise, he saw Rey discussing something in front of an ancient tablet display with another student from the train. From that, it was apparent to the brunette that when it comes to Rey¡¯s interests, the smoke-white haired boy would not mind the greatly annoying interaction with strangers which he spoke of. Nevertheless, the duo had a pretty good time in the museum. For Eli, it was the purchase of an intricately crafted, one-eared earring which has a mysterious engraving on it from the souvenir shop that made his stay in the museum worthwhile.

    When the museum group advanced towards the Entertainment Sector, the group which was already there had completely immersed themselves in the wonders of magic. The duo experienced the peculiar music made entirely from magic, live game shows which surround the utility of magic and the arcade games which integrated the essence of magic into its core gameplay mechanic. When it was time to leave, a lot of the youngsters were unwilling to do so. But, when they were told the next Sector they were going was a Sector dedicated to selling pretty much every kind of things related to magic, they became cooperative.

    Jack was uncertain if he needed to buy something from the store. He figured he really should throw some of his money on some magic tools to help him better master the abilities of his sword. Maybe even for future potential magic training if it comes down to it. But the most important of them all, he should get some magical protection charms or one-time spell attack strips in case those terrible things happens again. He took a glance at Rey and saw him carrying a fancy tome, probably a high-quality grimoire, and a few other stuff in his hands.

    ¡°So, did you guys have a magical time here?¡± Damien asked as he grinned. All of them replied yes while some also rolled their eyes when saying it, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you gotta be ready for the next Section, because everyone there is all about logic, mathematics, standard laws of universe and religion. Magic have little to no place there, but Source does. Boys and girls, I present you the Section of Technology and Faith, ÉñÖ®ÑÛ!¡±

    It was as if they stepped into an entirely different world. In Anima, the buildings gave them a sort of ¡®ancient¡¯ impression when they wandered around the Section. However, in this Section, it was completely opposite from the vibe they got in Anima. Everything here was futuristic and shiny. Holograms and all sorts of robots can be seen from their windows. And, despite the cleanliness look of the Section, there were plenty of greenery too.

    ¡°Breathtaking, isn¡¯t it? I had the same excitement as you guys when I first saw this amazing scenery,¡± He stared briefly outside before resuming his job, ¡°As all of you would know, the world of Zion is a mysterious one. Ever since the apocalyptic event which nearly wiped out the entire realm, the residents in that world has been forbidding anyone from entering their land or leaving it. However, we still had lots of records detailing about the world and its natives, albeit not complete ones. We know that whoever¡¯s living inside the barrier is known as ¡®Angels¡¯, beings who seemingly able to wield powers to bring upon miracles.¡±

    ¡°There were rumors which state whoever live in this section of land could have the chance to witness these angelic beings and ask them for divine help. Alas, there were no truths in these rumors. However, in the past, many had believed it and travel far to reach this ¡®sacred land¡¯. Soon after, a religion was born. It was supposed to bring people hope and teach them about love, instead, it had caused the deaths of many innocents. A long chain of events had taken place after the Church of Zion was founded, but I¡¯m just going to tell all of you the short version.¡±

    ¡°Back in those days, there were a lot of religions telling lots of people different things. Some approve certain actions while others condemned it. Almost all of the followers of these religions were at throat with each other, but no one dares to start a war, until someone from the Church did something stupid at the wrong place, at the wrong time. A full scale, centuries-long war began. All of these religions kept on preaching about preserving peace while they kill people who don¡¯t agree with them. Then, one day, a group of people suddenly appeared and ended the bloody war. Their solution? Kill every single person who has the power to revive any existing religion after they were destroyed at the time.¡± A few youngsters had a horrified expression on their face.

    ¡°Some said it was cruel and unnecessary, while others assert that there were no other options. In any case, the war is over, but despair took over the land. As an act of spite, or irony, the elves, normal elves, gathered intelligent minds from all types of races and built many research centers in this Section. Whereas the Church requires blind faith in order for something good to happen, the scientists and researchers actively discover ways to improve everyone¡¯s lives.¡±

    ¡°The story doesn¡¯t end there. Various religion has popped out from practically everywhere to fill in the void. But, no matter how hard people tried, they cannot prevent new religions from emerging. The reason for this was because the people of this land needed something to believe in, an entity to place their hope on. So, in order to avoid another war, the men and women of science came up with a plan. They tried to find a perfect deity to be the heart of a new religion which promotes morally ¡®good¡¯ attributes while dismissing the ¡®bad¡¯ ones and will also be able to ¡®grant wishes¡¯. Long story short, a ¡®hero¡¯ helped achieve their goals and the Church of Aether was founded. Aaaand we have arrived!¡± The train halted in front of a massive building.

    The Church of Aether was humongous, to say the least. Anyone could see whoever built this put much effort to every detail on the building. The Church¡¯s colour is primarily white, though there are other light colours to compliment the overall aesthetic. The hall directly behind its entrance was nothing short of impressive. There were statues at the sides; the windows were large and have artistic paintings on them; the crazy amount of benches of the highest quality with angelic symbols etched on them and a pulpit at the other end of the hall which was an obelisk with an eye on top of it standing behind.

    ¡°Aside from the Church, the main focus of ÉñÖ®ÑÛ is to improve our technology and our understanding of the world, or realm. Whatever suits you. So, the name of Section 1, ÉñÖ®ÑÛ, or The God¡¯s Eye have two meaning. First, it¡¯s obviously referring to the Church. Aether is the God and he always watches over us. The other meaning of the name is to represent the knowledge which the people here has accumulated and how they have been using it to benefit us as a society. God is omniscient, and if we look through his eyes, we can see everything in this universe. Our next couple of stops will give you some insight on what kind of technology is being developed and how they can affect our everyday lives.¡±

    ¡°The Church was renewed several times to prevent any contradictions and displeasures from the masses. After all, the Church was created and designed by scientists. It also integrated many rules to prevent anyone with high position within the ranks to manipulate the Church¡¯s faithful followers.¡±

    They spent some times exploring the interior of the Church as well as listening to bits of history through the files in the audio machine placed in front of certain paintings or artifacts.

    After that, of course, they visited the largest entertainment center in the entire Section. From watching movies in a virtual world to playing the most bizarre hologram games they could find. Not only that, they serve weird snacks there too. It was fun, but nothing notable happened there.

    Later on, it was time for the obligatory visit to a shopping complex. They could find the latest versions of Circulums and PCs, biological enhancements equipment like exoskeletal hiking machine, and general things like a coffee machine which could make all types of coffee imaginable or a lite version of the 3d food printing machine. However, most of the things sold there were quite expensive, so not much people bought anything.

    ¡°Now the next Section, Ealain, is kind of an odd one. First of all, its theme doesn¡¯t correspond to Niflheim uniqueness at all, at least in my opinion and many others¡¯. Some of you might realize that Speir does not have a stable and healthy relationship with Niflheim for a long time in the past. Neither worlds have grudges against each other, it¡¯s just that the residents of Niflheim prefer to live a quiet and undisturbed life. They rarely interact with anyone came into their world, even if those people were harboring evil intention.¡± The train passed through the Section border before Damien continued.

    ¡°Ealain is the Section of Art. Whether it¡¯s music, sculpture, painting, or anything else you would consider as art, you can find all of it right here. There are a lot of museums dedicated to many types of arts and its history, studios where various professionals work together, and a few research centers to come up with even more instruments for artists to express themselves. While most visitors would come to this Section to admire masterpieces of traditional art, some would come to discover the latest and weirdest art form one could find.¡±

    In this Section, the train first brought them to visit all the famous landmarks, most of which were beautifully crafted by prominent masters. For example, there¡¯s the Pillars of Life. The design of pillars themselves was indeed fascinating, but the true draw of this particular landmark was often misunderstood by visitors. The group was lucky as they were able to witness the true function of the pillars.

    When the professional dancer they saw gently touched the first pillar, a soft music was played but its origin unknown. Then, as the dancer whirl around at her feet, gracefully making her way towards the second pillar, the music became louder and its rhythm fitted perfectly with her movement. Her dance, as well as the music, gradually became more and more complex as she approaches the final pillar. And when she finally reached the twelfth pillar, the music and her dance ended in a spectacular fashion. Everyone around applauded, even Rey, who genuinely enjoyed the performance.

    Next, the went to the museums. All of the museums in Ealain were connected by teleportation pads; it was even better that they don¡¯t charge fees to whoever¡¯s using them. Damien allowed each small groups to go whatever museum they want to as long as they return to the main one at the designated time. Most of them just went to the movie museum, or the manga/comic/graphic novel museum, or the modern literature museum.

    Rey¡¯s group went to the music museum first. Rey was interested in the ¡®chillstep¡¯ genre; Eli was into EDM; Jack chose to go to the post-rock section with Emily following him. Then they went to a few other museums, all of which they didn¡¯t stay long. The duo insisted on staying a little longer in the picture museum. There were hand-drawn landscapes, digitally painted battlefields, photographs taken at once-in-a-lifetime moments, portraits of the most charming individuals and much, much more.

    They also came across the Weird Art Museum. All of the art there was indeed weird. A dodo bird sculpture made from chewing gums; an entire song comprised of sounds made by a male elven body; a dance which requires the dancer to hold a whip and kept saying ¡®Ney, Ney¡¯; and the weirdest of them all, a blank picture. It was just a standard white canvas which anyone could buy from literally any art stores. Jack was beyond confused. He could never understand the essence of art.

    The last one they went to is the museum of comics/manga/graphic novel. After seeing the crowd of students amassed at that place, Damien decided to move the gathering location to this one instead. Both Eli and Rey were full of excitement (Rey didn¡¯t express his emotion outwardly) as they went through many legendary collections placed under the display. Jack and Emily, on the other hand, was much more uninterested. The home they lived before coming to the Academy doesn¡¯t have this kind of entertainment, so they don¡¯t know much about it. However, Jack took a look anyway, perhaps he could finally found something worthwhile to kill time with.

    ¡°Hey, hey! Check this out! This is the one I told you about! One of the best manga in the entire history of manga!¡±

    ¡°Hmm? What is it about again?¡±

    ¡°The setting of the world was that everyone is an immortal, I would say they were about SS-rank immortal in our world. The story begins a long time after the appearance of the Resurrection Deficiency Syndrome, a disease which would cause a person, the immortals, to die. It was spread by individuals who were known as Vectors, but no one knows how or why the RDS exist. In later chapters, it was revealed that those Vectors came from our world. They were teleported to that world against their will. The Vectors, once they let three people fall in love with them and infect them with RDS, somehow, they will become a B-rank immortal.¡±

    ¡°The heroine was a member of a rebellion organization. Her job was to save any Vectors from the Anti-Vector Task Squad before they were killed. The story might seem a little cliche, but trust me, it is unlike anything you ever see before.¡±

    ¡°Even better than the two alchemist brothers one?¡±

    ¡°Nah. But, I would say both of these mangas are on the same level. Trust me, it is extremely better than any of those terrible, shitty anime on the Web.¡±

    Before returning to the train, they went to the souvenir shop. Jack bought a flower (blue lily) earring for Emily while Rey, surprisingly, bought an artistically crafted hairpin for Eli. He heard him about buying a new one few days ago and also because he thought it would definitely look good on Eli. It goes without saying that Eli was overjoyed. He immediately put it on and thanked Rey. Even though Rey¡¯s reply was plain, he was glad that Eli was happy.

    ¡°Before I go on to give all of you an overall description for Section 3, there¡¯s a few things you need to know about Terra. Most of you will know that there is a barrier isolating the residents of that world from the wider realm. However, this is not the same case as with Zion or Hel, the barrier was set up to protect Terrarians due to a very specific and convoluted reason. The mystery surrounding Terra is incredibly complex and unbelievable, you can access the Academy¡¯s library if you want to know more about it.¡±

    ¡°Although not everyone can enter and leave Terra whenever they want, including Terrarians themselves, some individuals can, whether they did it with magic or through other methods, come and go as they please. Through the expeditions into Terra, the explorers were amazed by the inner workings of the world. That world only contains humans, various kinds of humans, and a majority of them did not believe or even know the existence of magic or Source! Hard to believe, right? However, there is a perfectly good explanation for this. It seems that Terra has incredibly low amount Source floating around, they¡¯re low density too! This would explain why magic did not exist there and why the only intelligent beings there are humans as they can survive in that kind of environment.¡±

    ¡°Many would find it hard to imagine such a world deprived of magic. However, Terra, exactly because of its special circumstances, has developed a unique society. They have created many things that we could not in order to compensate for the lack of magic. But, the humans there are extremely different from the humans in other worlds. They were violent, barbaric, irrational, and in many situations, stupid.

    They could start wars with their own kind just because they have different skin color. Or in an even worse situation, countries are willing to destroy the entire world to prevent their neighbours from getting something they don¡¯t have or simply because they want to remain as the most superior sub-race. Nevertheless, they seemed to have tamed their animalistic nature and began working with each other to advance their civilization.¡± The train crossed the Section border. The buildings were plain, unlike the ones they saw in Elaine. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ¡°And now, I shall talk about the Section of Randomness, Casuale. Yep, you hear that right, this Section is all about random stuff, although it still has a main focus, which is studying all civilization¡¯s culture. Casuale used to be called as Stj¨®rnm¨¢l, a place where people discuss politics, laws, and held democratic meetings. But, after the final Ring was built, the government decided to move all of that into the Academy. They know they had to devise a new theme to fill in the void. The cultural thing was good, it does somewhat correspond to Terra, but it isn¡¯t ¡®big¡¯ enough. Then, someone proposed a brilliant idea. How about we put everything that isn¡¯t suitable to the themes of other Sections into this one? Everyone agreed with the proposal and they renamed Section 3 to Casuale because the suggestion was brought up casually.¡±

    ¡°Like I¡¯ve mentioned before, the convergence of different cultures in this Section draws most of the attention of visiting foreigners. The second draw is astrology. I know what you¡¯re thinking, how in the world did astrology manage to stand in the spotlight? Since the creation of this planet, our atmosphere has been protecting us from cosmic dangers at the same time it has kept us prisoners. We can see through it, but we cannot, physically or otherwise, pass through it, hence our slow progression in this field of space science. However, as time move forward, the spell on the atmosphere has weakened. We can approach closer and closer to the fine boundary separating the outer space from our planet. And now you know why our first stop is the largest observatory in the entire realm.¡± He raised his hand aiming at the building as the door opened.

    The observatory impressed many of the youngsters. Not only it was massive, the decoration of the building gave its visitors a feeling of boundlessness, as if they were actually in outer space. While the function of the observatory is to house astronomical telescope and other scientific apparatus for the scientists to conduct their extensive research on cosmic occurrences, it mostly acts like an exhibition hall. There were many displays showing what scientists have found in our atmosphere and what interesting events they had observed through their telescope. There was even a large model of the four moons hanging from the ceiling.

    Next, they went straight towards the culture gallery. Almost all the cultures that ever existed after The Apocalypse have a sector of their own, some small while others were colossal. Among all the cultures from all eight worlds, Speir, as apparent as it could get, has the widest range of them all. As the floating world¡¯s position is in the middle the realm, it¡¯s not hard to come to the conclusion that visitors from other worlds would most definitely gather here. Whether they came here to trade, to begin a new life or to seek answers, some of them would eventually decide to spend the rest of their life here.

    Before the visitors became the residents of Midgard, they would obviously need to come from somewhere else. And, even though those individuals might be of the same race, they might not originate from the same clan or the same world. Different clans in different world have their own unique cultures due to their living conditions, and when they came to Speir, their cultures were modified to fit their new society better, hence the reason why Speir has a large variety of old and new cultures; even Midgardians themselves sometimes does not recognize cultures exist in their own world.

    Other than Speir, the only other worlds with lots of different cultures are Tenebrae, Arcadia, and Terra. Jack was attracted to the cultures in Tenebrae. Most of the inhabitants there belong to warrior clans as their world was indeed chaotic in the past. Rey, on the other hand, was attracted by the cultures in Arcadia. After all, Arcadia is the pioneer of all things magic. But, in the end, all of the youngsters went to the Terra sector. Everything in Terra was too interesting due to its peculiarity and no one could get their eyes off the display, especially the dinosaur displays.

    Anyhow, there was a restaurant of some kind beside the gallery. They had a nice afternoon tea break there. They serve foods of all cultures you can find in the gallery, but, of course, all of the young students chose to eat the strange but delicious cuisines of Terra. However, the variety of food in Terra isn¡¯t as wide as many thought. There have been a lot of explorers venturing into Asgard, and most of them had influenced the inhabitants there, one way or another. Still, that¡¯s not to say there aren¡¯t originality in any of the food.

    The duo, Jack, and Emily were the first to finish their afternoon ¡®snack¡¯. Damien could see they weren¡¯t fond of the idea that they had to wait for the others to finish too before they could get back to the train, so he decided to bring them back first. This way, he would also have some time to rest before the journey continued. They went to the gallery through the main road, but they took a shortcut by entering a small alley. Just when they walked into the alley, Damien received a call from one of the attendants.

    ¡°....I¡¯ll be right there,¡± As soon as the call ended, he turned towards the four, ¡°It seems a student has caused some trouble with one of the employees there. We¡¯ll have to go back.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Can¡¯t the four of us walk back to the train? After all, it¡¯s not that far away.¡±

    ¡°No. Have you forgotten what happened last time when you¡¯re alone?¡±

    ¡°Come on, Damien. We can literally see the train from here, and there¡¯s nothing dangerous in front of us either.

    Nothing bad will happen.¡± He didn¡¯t want to go back because one of the customer there was eating an awfully terrible smelling food. He did NOT need to go back and smell it the second time. Damien stared at him for awhile as he secretly used his natural ability to sense nearby enemies. No one with malicious intent was near them.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll allow it. However, if something bad did happen, you must contact me immediately. Understand?¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Good. I¡¯ll see you four later.¡± And he left immediately. Jack let out a sigh and they proceeded to amble towards the train.

    ¡°Can¡¯t handle the smell back there?¡± Rey asked. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯d do whatever it takes to not smell that again.¡± Silence filled the air for a few seconds before Rey spoke again, ¡°Say, Jack, what did happen the last time when you¡¯re alone?¡± He glanced at the azure-haired boy with suspicion.

    ¡°I--¡± A barrage of silent bullets rained down on the four of them. Jack swiftly grabbed Emily with his arm and leaped forward with force. When he noticed the bullets kept on following him, he summoned his sword, put down Emily, and swing it in a circle above his head with crazy strength within one second. The sword, after detecting Jack¡¯s thought, changed the element of the core to ¡®air¡¯. When he completed the revolution of his sword, an intense wind barrier was formed. When he raised his head to see who had ambushed them, no one was in sight. In fact, the attack stopped completely. He deactivated the barrier and released his sword.

    After a brief moment of relaxing, his body tensed up again with a sudden thought: what happened to Rey and Eli? He swirled to his back panicking, but what he saw was a semi-spherical fire barrier. Strangely enough, when the barrier came down, there was no burnt mark on the ground. Nevertheless, he quickly grabbed Emily in his arms again and rushed forward. As he stood in front of the duo and let down Emily, he saw Rey¡¯s calm, but angry face, Eli¡¯s trembling body and frightened expression, and Hinoko¡¯s glowing eyes returning to normal on Rey¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Please, before you say anything, please don¡¯t tell Damien about this.¡± He felt even bad for saying this when he thought Eli was on his verge of crying. ¡°Then you¡¯re in luck, Jack. Whoever attacked us also have no desire to let anyone know about their ambush. There were no bullet marks anywhere, and they didn¡¯t use Source projectiles. I won¡¯t tell anything to Damien, I don¡¯t want this incident to ruin the trip for everyone else,¡± Jack let out a breath of relief, ¡°However, you¡¯re not off the hook that easily,¡± before he took a strained one.

    ¡°Considering you just endangered me and Elliot, you are going to tell me what I want to know. If you refuse, Damien will know every juicy detail about this.¡± At the same time he finished the sentence, a few students with an attendant popped up at the end of the alley. Jack nervously pulled the duo¡¯s hand and urged them to walk normally with his expression, ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯ll tell you what you want to know, just promise me, promise me you won¡¯t mention this to Damien or anyone else.¡± He murmured.

    ¡°I promise. Now, tell me,¡± He was so going to regret allowing Rey to ask him---

    ¡°Where do you live now? And where do you live before you came to Speir?¡± What? Why was Rey asking this kind of questions? Nevermind that, at least he didn¡¯t ask the questions concerning the attackers, ¡°I live in a student house in the Sea Region, its name is Moira. Before I came to Speir, I lived in Tenebrae, inside a remote village far from the empire¡¯s reach.¡±

    ¡°Are you a human?¡± It¡¯s as if Rey dropped a bomb on his head. Everyone immediately stared at Rey. They were almost at the train due to their quickened steps. ¡°....not entirely¡­.¡± He spat out those words painfully. How in the world did Rey know that?!

    ¡°Experiment?¡± ¡°....yes¡­.¡± ¡°Living weapon?¡± ¡°How, in the name of Gaia, did you know about that?!¡± He shouted while they were already inside the invisible elevator slowly moving to the top. It wasn¡¯t fear that he felt. It was more like a defence mechanism. Like a prey being caution towards an unknown predator.

    ¡°Answer my question, Jack. Are you an experimental living weapon? Yes, or no?¡± The elevator came to a halt. He practically ground the word out from his mouth, ¡°...yes...¡±

    ¡°I know this because,¡± He sauntered into the train, ¡°I have been collecting information about you since the day I met you. When I first saw your aura, I knew you aren¡¯t just a normal person. And I,¡± He sat down on the bench, ¡°Have to know for certain who or what exactly are you. I won¡¯t tell you why I did it; you wouldn¡¯t understand my motive anyway. Now, onto the next question. Do you know why you are made?¡± The rest of them took a seat on the same bench as well. He could see Jack¡¯s expression clearly as he sat beside him.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Do you know who made you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­.not sure.¡± ¡°Do you know the people who attacked us?¡± Rey probably won¡¯t accept his answer, but fuck it, ¡°No.¡± Surprisingly, Rey doesn¡¯t seem to be bothered by it, ¡°Did you came to the Academy because you were sent here or did you came here because you want to find answers?¡± He gave up trying to guess how Rey knew what he knew, ¡°Both.¡± ¡°Send me your Circulum number.¡± He did as Rey told awkwardly; he¡¯s still wasn¡¯t familiar with this device. After Rey added his number to the ¡®VIP list¡¯, he didn¡¯t say anything else.

    ¡°You...aren¡¯t going to ask me more questions?¡± ¡°No. Unless you want me to.¡± Rey ignored him and diverted his attention to Eli as a few students boarded the train. He tried to comfort the frightened boy, but it seems Eli had already recovered from that frightful experience, mostly, at least. After everyone was back on the train, Damien began to spoke as the transportation resumed its journey.

    ¡°My fellow students, we are now on the road to our final Section. No matter how much all of you have enjoyed the trip, it is unfortunate that our journey had nearing its end. However, I am positive that all of you, once you have seen what Section 4 has to offer, you would return your homes happily. May I present you, the Section of Life and Understanding, Zivot!¡±

    The first sight of Zivot was astounding; it was as if they¡¯ve entered a forest with modern buildings in it, but much tidier. They could see various aerial beings flying past them, and a few types of beasts and animals doing stuff on the rooftop with humanoids through the window.

    ¡°Eintracht is one of the two worlds which were untouched by modern civilization, thus it was able to preserve the many flora and fauna which many had thought extinct along with many exotic ones. So, the theme of this Section which corresponds to Eintracht is of course all about living beings. More specifically, the perseverance, caring, and protection of any and all sentient beings. Everything you would associate with biology can be found here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure all of you want to know what is the attraction of Zivot, and I¡¯m doubly certain that all of you already have a good guess in your mind. To find out the answer,¡± The train halted its movement, ¡°You just have to step out the train.¡±

    They spent their remaining time in the ¡®zoo¡¯. It¡¯s not an actual zoo because it¡¯s illegal to capture any sentient beings and throw them into a cage then charge whoever wants to see it with money. Plus, the Guardians of the Forest would not stay quiet if it did happen. To picture what exactly was this place, imagine humanoids living in the forest. There¡¯s nothing wrong with it, they live harmoniously with the living beings there, they don¡¯t kill animals/beasts to eat their meat, and they can come and go as the please if they follow the rules set by the authorities. Imagine that situation for animals and beasts.

    But of course, the Safe Haven doesn¡¯t just invite beasts or animals here for fun, the employees there also researched them for tons of reasons that ordinary people don¡¯t care about. This is also where the internship for Tamers is held. Visitors visit the place all day every day; sometimes they would have the chance to witness gigantic beasts while other days they could interact with lower Demis which their consciousness just elevated to a higher one.

    Rey wasn¡¯t terribly fond of animals or beasts, aside from Hinoko. However, seeing that she was enjoying herself so much with other foxes and beasts resembling foxes, he couldn¡¯t help but agreed to join the Kitsune to have some fun. Jack and Damien, on the other hand, were drawn to a rare crystal wyvern on the top of the building. Jack had the unlikely opportunity to watch a dragon-daemon interact with a subspecies of a dragon.

    Damien used a weird but extremely loud voice to communicate with the wyvern. Because it¡¯s not an actual dragon, the President had to resort to using vocal communication to ¡®talk¡¯ to the astonishingly gentle and calm beast. Although its scales appeared to be crystals, it was only a thin glittering coating. The horns were real crystals though; it acts as an excellent medium for the beast to channel its magical powers, which was why they were once on the brink of extinction.

    Then, after Damien finished conversing with the wyvern, he asked Jack whether he wants to have a ride on its back. How could any boy of his age say no? So, after the employees there gave them a few safety equipment and installed a saddle on the large wyvern¡¯s back, they were good to go. The boy excitedly sat on the saddle, but the daemon was standing behind the boy instead.

    Not counting the violent departure, the experience of the entire flight on the beast¡¯s back was beyond mind-blowingly awesome. The sunset, the buildings, and their high altitude permanently ingrained the scenery he saw with his very eyes into his mind. He wished Emily could see this, but she would probably be too sick to even brace the takeoff. He peeked at Damien behind his back for a few seconds whenever the wyvern changed the direction of the course through gliding to see how was he able to not fell down instantly. It was a bit disappointing though, he just stood there perfectly straight without a hint of concern. It¡¯s probably magic.

    They landed back on the building after the aerial beast began to feel tired. Jack went looking for Emily with a burning desire to tell her all about his experience. He found her, along with almost half of the students, cuddling small, adorable creatures. Surprisingly, he saw her exchanging a few words with Eli. He decided not to interrupt her and tried to blend in with other youngsters as well.

    Rey, after spending some quality time with Hinoko, went to the ¡®botanical garden¡¯ with a quarter of students and two attendants. Aside from his intention to see what kinds of exotic flowers are planted here, he also wanted to test if he could spend some time in a quiet garden far from the cacophony of civilization. He went to a higher floor where he could sense no one was in there. The plants here were a bit dull in colour, but wonderful nonetheless.

    For example, he found a small section of the wall entirely dedicated to Windsongs, a plant which plays a natural music when the wind blows at it. He used an air spell on one end of the section to the other. He expected the sound to be incompatible with each separate Windsongs, but he couldn¡¯t be any more wrong. It was beautiful. It. Was. Beautiful.

    As the dusk slowly transitioned to the night, all of them boarded the train one last time before heading home.

    ¡°Well, folks, the trip is officially over. I hope all of you had a good day and I wish I would have a chance to meet all of you again. Goodbye.¡± Said Damien once the train stopped. The students began to step out from the train.

    ¡°See you next time, Rey, Eli. Sorry for what happened earlier.¡±

    ¡°Until next time, Jack.¡± Rey quickly brushed past Jack and alighted the train without batting an eye at him. It¡¯s hard to tell if he was still mad or he was too tired to bother to bid a proper farewell.

    ¡°Goodbye, Jack, Emily.¡± Eli hurriedly caught up with Rey. A few seconds later, the door slid back and began moving towards the Sea Region.

    ¡°Rey! Eli! Welcome back!¡± Aster stood up from a couch opposing the door the moment he saw them, ¡°How was the trip? Was it good?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! It was awesome!¡± ¡°If it¡¯s awesome even for you who lives in the city, imagine what I had felt when I went to the trip, although I didn¡¯t buy the VIP ticket. What about you, Rey? What do you think of the trip?¡± The boy¡¯s attention was not on the goat Demi, but rather on the person with carmine hair sitting across the couch Aster was sitting on just now.

    ¡°Alan, you can stop pretending you¡¯re not there already.¡± The carmine head jerked. Then, the person lazily stood up and turned around.

    ¡°I¡¯m not pretending, Rey.¡± Alan looked like he had a makeover. His blonde hair was gone, so does his sunglasses. His hair was laid down and the ¡®subtle¡¯ makeup seen on his face during previous meetings was gone. He looked more natural and handsome this way.

    ¡°Whatever. Have you eaten yet, Aster?¡± A wave of students entered the dorm during this sentence.

    ¡°Nope. I was waiting for you two to come back. Let¡¯s go.¡± Aster took the lead, Alan at his side, while the duo followed behind.

    ¡°Nice makeover, Alan.¡± ¡°Shaddup, Rey. I don¡¯t want to hear that from you.¡± They stepped into the elevator. ¡°Is this what you have been doing with Alan, Aster? Giving him a new look?¡± Now they exited the small space.

    ¡°No. Well, not the only one, anyway. This is his original look. I¡¯ve been trying to get him back on track, for example: forcing him to attend the classes that he should be going, fixing his unhealthy diet, and the most important of them all, restoring his original personality. It was a request made by Ada, she couldn¡¯t stand him being his obnoxious self.¡± Searching a table for five together.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m right here, you know? Ugh, why do you care about me anyway?¡±

    ¡°What can I say, I like helping people out. There, beside the window, behind the orc.¡± All of them swiftly swim through the crowd to reach their destination.

    ¡°Must be hard.¡± ¡°Hmm? Not really. Ada was the one doing most of the job. It seems she have quite a relationship with Alan here. Wanna share your story?¡± He grinned.

    ¡°Fuck off.¡± The conversation was temporary halted as they sat down, ordered their food, and ate it.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m done. I¡¯m going back to my room.¡± Unfortunately, Aster dragged him back to his seat before he could run for it.

    ¡°What now?¡± He muttered in an annoyed tone.

    ¡°We should hear about Rey¡¯s first case! He promised he would tell the tale once Eli and I were gathered together.¡±

    ¡°I. Don¡¯t. Care.¡± He abruptly shot up and strode away. However, a few seconds later he came back, ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll listen to his stupid story.¡± Aster grinned again. This time with a hint of sarcasm.

    ¡°You saw Ada.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°She¡¯s really going hard with the whole ¡®training¡¯ thing huh?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡±

    ¡°Fine. Rey¡­?¡±

    ¡°Initially, it was two separate cases. The first is the mysterious symbols appeared on seven pictures taken by seven people on seven consecutive days around the Artifact Displaying Room. The second was a ¡®cursed¡¯ picture taken by one of the groups in the Treasure Hunting Association. The people inside the picture were drawn with the ways that they would die.¡±

    ¡°It all begins when a student in that picture narrowly avoided death. He was the first one to saw the drawings on the picture his friend took and he believed that he should precaution to avert the way of his death. After the incident, he quickly told the other 9 that was also present in the picture about what happened. One of them eventually came to the Analytical Mind and reported the incident.¡±

    ¡°At the time, I was following my mentor trying to solve the first case. However, seeing that we aren¡¯t making any progress, Arthur shove the second case to us. I was ordered to find out the details of why they were cursed. There, I found a connection between two cases. Those ten people in the picture were responsible for bringing a new artifact into the Academy.¡±

    ¡°I asked them if they know what the symbols in the seven pictures meant, and sure enough, they do. The symbols were alternate words to an ancient language. They mentioned that they saw similar symbols in the chamber which they took the artifact from. They decipher the words, and it reads ¡®You won¡¯t be forgiven. Death will follow.¡¯¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t know what they need to do to repel the spirit, so I suggested they should go to the Artifact Displaying Room and see who was the one putting the symbols into random pictures. One of them was acting aggressively, and he was eager to kill whoever responsible for the drawings and symbols. My mentor used a few tricks, and we were able to summon the entity.¡±

    ¡°The aggressive halfling* was about to kill the seemingly harmless entity, but his companion, the first victim, I¡¯ll call him J for simplicity, stopped him. After a few explanations, we found out that the entity was not the evil spirit. The entity originated from a small statue lies outside the chamber where the artifact lies. Before J went in, he grabbed the toppled statue and made it stood upright again. He¡¯d even pray at the statue for protection.¡±

    ¡°The truth about the entity was that it was once a protection spirit guarding the chamber. However, after the chamber was abandoned, nobody cared about it anymore. When J prayed at him, it felt hope. After the group of people took the artifact, it knew terrible things would happen to them, so it tried to warn them.¡±

    ¡°The first thing it tried was the symbols, but it didn¡¯t work out because it didn¡¯t know where to find them. Just as the curse was about to take place, one of the group members went back to the artifact room. That person was planning to steal and sell the artifact. He failed, by the way, but it gave the entity a chance to find J. Now they know about the whole story.¡±

    ¡°What about the evil spirit?¡±

    ¡°The curse cannot be revoked, and the evil spirit had decided to attack all of us at that moment considering his plan to kill them one by one has foiled. The entity was going to sacrifice itself to save them, it was cliche as hell if you ask me. However, I had a better plan. I learned how to extinguish mid-level evil spirits like these back at the Outer Regions, it was a necessity. It was quite difficult, but Hinoko was very helpful.¡± Rey gently stroke the fur on her head.

    ¡°The evil spirit was gone, and the benevolent entity got to stay with J. Happy ending.¡±

    ¡°Wow, Rey. That was quite a story.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, whatever. It wasn¡¯t challenging at all. Now, if you would excuse me, I want to go back to my room and rest.¡±

    ¡°Of course. Goodnight, Rey, Eli.¡± Hinoko lightly howled as she does not like to be ignored, ¡°And of course you too, Hinoko.¡± She nodded in satisfaction.

    ¡°See you later, Aster, Alan.¡± He stood up and sauntered away.

    ¡°Goodnight Aster! Goodnight to you too, Alan.¡± He quickly catches up with Rey.

    ¡°Ugh.¡± Then Alan groaned and quickly left.

    Aster was the last one left. He slowly gets up on his two feet, pushed in his chair and Alan¡¯s, and left with a smile on his face.

    ?End of Chapter Ten?

    *Halfling in my story refers to a child born from two different humanoid races.

 Solver (1)

    Like an automated robot, he opened his eyes at exactly 6:45 in the morning, sat right up, and landed lightly on the floor without a single delay. He ambled towards the still sleeping Hinoko and gave her a soft scratch on her head. She needs time to transition herself from her slumber to a fully awakened state. During that time, Rey would perform his daily morning routine.

    He doesn¡¯t need to spend time thinking what he should wear for the day like Eli; he had a timetable for it. He took his clothes into the washroom and place it on top of the toilet¡¯s lid. He swiftly brushed his teeth before taking off his current clothes, threw it into a miniature ¡®washing machine¡¯ beside the sink, and changed into a new one. After five seconds, the machine spat out his nicely folded and clean sleeping clothes as he was now fully prepared to face a new day.

    He placed the clean clothing into his receptacle after walking back to the room. He took a peek at his roommate; he was still sleeping soundly. Hinoko, with her own magic spell, had clean up her body and leaped onto Rey¡¯s shoulder. Together, they exited the room and made way towards the cafeteria.

    He sat on the same table he has been sitting for the past month or so, beside the large glass panel and near the corner of the entire cafeteria floor. Perhaps the only reason as for why he chose to wake up this early every day was because he wanted to avoid the large, annoying crowd of people eating breakfast. The noise caused by groups of students really grates his nerves.

    After shoving down that large bowl of noodles into his throat with lightning speed, he sauntered out the building and boarded the train heading to the Academy. He realizes his eating speed is not ideal for his stomach¡¯s health, so, every time while he waited for the train to reach its destination, he would use his Ingenium to ¡®power up¡¯ his digestive organ and allows it to ¡®work¡¯ harder without inflicting any long-term damage.

    After arriving at the Academy, he would go straight towards the library. He would usually stay there until dusk, except for the times when he is required to sate his hunger or releases unwanted wastes in his body.

    Of course, he also has a timetable to arrange when will he study a certain subject. And by study, it means he would find the most factually correct book, a physical or virtual one, by conducting a thorough research and comparison about the books which tackles a similar topic before imprinting all the contents found inside the winner into his mind.

    There were short intervals of rests while he reads to loosen himself a bit for better focusing, and also to mitigate the voice in his head screaming ¡®I¡¯M BORED!¡¯. He would often watch short videos or catch up with the latest chapters of the comics and mangas he is interested in.

    Although it only happens once in awhile, he would seldom completely indulge himself into the massive amount of videos which came out within a day from all his subscription. All of them were mostly educational videos which talk about science, history, latest news, or entertainment videos like funny animation videos, gaming compilation videos or videos from unpopular (and underrated) music artists.

    He was glad the past few weeks went by pretty fast. It was practically hell. He had to apply for so many permits/licenses and do a lot of other random things relating to his classes and The Analytical Mind. He hadn¡¯t actually attended any classes or discussion groups, but he has been paying attention to any assignments which could give him points to add to his overall ¡®grade¡¯.

    As much as he wanted some anticipated stimulation from Solver cases, he only managed to get one until now. He knew it wasn¡¯t going to be easy to have a new case, after all, Solvers are responsible for miscellaneous cases which do not fit into what people would call ¡®normal¡¯ or ¡®usual¡¯. He thought maybe in the Academy, which is basically a simulation of the ¡®real world¡¯ out there, he would have more opportunity to show off his abilities. He was wrong.

    However, this dull day wasn¡¯t focused for no reason. After his lunch, he received a call from his mentor. It seems a case has finally arrived. He brought up the Travel app and pressed on a presetted coordinate. He instantly teleported to the front of the left door (among the three doors) of the organization he is currently working for. He pressed a few numbers on the pad and opened the door.

    Upon entering the small but comfy room, he laid his eyes on the visitor¡¯s back. The visitor was sitting on a chair in front of a technologically advanced table, a ¡®smart'' table. On the other side of the expensive furniture was Rey¡¯s mentor.

    ¡°Ah, you''re here,¡± He glanced at the boy for a second. His attention then went back to the client. ¡°Mr.Rudas,¡± Said he as he directed his hand aiming at the couch in the middle of the room, ¡°Would you mind?¡±

    ¡°No. None at all.¡± Both of the proceeded to stand up and walked towards the couches.

    Rey caught his mentor¡¯s eye signal as the Solver went for the couch on the right side while Rudas went to the other. Rey ambled to the same couch as his mentor was and all three of them sat down at the same time.

    ¡°Reynard, this is Mr.Rudas. Mr.Rudas, this is my apprentice, Reynard.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Reynard.¡± The scene of a fox standing on the boy¡¯s shoulder was kinda weird, but it didn¡¯t bother him.

    ¡°Nice to meet you too, Mr.Rudas.¡± The fox, in return, stared at him curiously. Apparently, she never saw a cyclops before, or she simply couldn¡¯t remember..

    ¡°So, Mr.Rudas, what brings you to my office today?¡±

    ¡°Well...I would like to understand how this entire...Solver thing works first.¡± The dark-skinned cyclops was unsure if coming here was necessary. He was pretty nervous when he decided to come here. He heard about what Solvers do, but he didn''t know how their system functions. Luckily, as soon as he stepped into the room with no decorations of any kind but the beach themed wall design, he began to relax. Then, when the good-looking higher-lizard-Demi started introducing himself as Mr.Kibo, he completely dropped down his guard. The man certainly knows how to make an excellent first impression and calming someone down. But, before he could state the reason for coming here, the Demi insisted the both of them should wait until his apprentice came before getting into business.

    ¡°I see. Reynard, would you do the honor?¡± From the way Kibo was looking at Reynard, the cyclops could effortlessly deduct that the older Solver was testing his apprentice.

    ¡°What would you like to know, Mr.Rudas?¡±

    ¡°I want to know what exactly does a Solver do. I heard that you guys accept odd requests from different people, but what kind of odd requests?¡±

    ¡°Primarily, we help our clients solve something they could not understand in the situation where they do not know what authority they should find help from. Most of the time, our clients truly needs our services to unravel certain mysteries that has been affecting their lives in either a good way or bad way. Seldom, there were clients who just came to us when they found some interesting and they wants us to find out the secrets behind it. Of course, that''s not to say there aren''t any cases that are in between those two scenarios.¡±

    ¡°Other than solving random mysteries, we also provide services which leap across multiple professions. Because Solvers are required to have an extensive amount of knowledge on many things, we could perform certain tricky requests which would either cost too much on normal circumstances or too troublesome. For example, a person was framed by his enemy for something he did not commit. Because hiring a lawyer and a detective would be too costly, he might search for a Solver which can find evidence of his innocence and prove that he was indeed framed in the court of law.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. Then, what about payment? I heard from a few people that you guys don¡¯t always accept Credits as payment.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is correct. Due to the unpredictable nature of our cases, sometimes seemingly easy ones have deep and dark secrets behind it. In this scenario, the client might not be able to pay the unexpectedly large amount of money. Under normal circumstances, we would inform our clients whenever we found something new related to their case and let them decide if they want us to continue or not. This way, we won¡¯t have any complaints.¡±

    ¡°However, if it comes a time when our clients absolutely could not pay the bills, we would offer them several alternatives. There¡¯s the simplest solution, the client pays in installment. If not, the client can give us something that has equal value to the money they owe us. And if both of these solutions doesn¡¯t work out either, we would form a service contract with them.¡±

    ¡°In simple terms, when we need their specialty to solve difficult problems we would call them to aid us. It might be needlessly complex due to a foreseeable disagreement between what we want our clients to do and what they think they should to clear their debt. However, many would still prefer this method because they could take the chance of doing something relatively easy to them than paying money. Is my explanation suffice for you to make a decision, Mr.Rudas?¡±

    ¡°Um...I guess so,¡± There was a short pause, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve made my decision. I¡¯ll give you both a case, my case. I seriously hope both of you can solve it. I¡¯ll start from the beginning.¡±

    ¡°A few days earlier, I receive a message in my inbox. It told me that I have won 500 Credits from a lottery for participating an event some time ago. It was sudden, but nothing was out of place. Then, when I went back to my room later that evening, there was a strange-looking device sitting in front of my door. Here, take a look at this.¡± He pulled out the machine from his pocket and handed it to Rey who already extended his hand. He knew what it was at first glance.

    It was an outdated rectangular audio recorder. Its length was about the horizontal length of a palm of an adult while its width was about 3cm. It was black, but the ¡®record¡¯ button on one end of the recorder was red and the ¡®play/stop¡¯, ¡®fast forward¡¯, ¡®rewind¡¯ and ¡®slow down¡¯ buttons were blue. This crude, disposable recorder was made by people living in the underground to relay messages without the messenger getting noticed. It has biometric defences which would only allow the appointed user to operate the device and blow up the device if it detects stranger¡¯s biological data. However, that function was obviously not activated, or else they would¡¯ve been blown to bits.

    ¡°After I hit ¡®play¡¯, a strange piano melody came out. The music was very disorganized and terrible, but I think there might be some hidden message inside it. Until this point, what happened hasn¡¯t been creepy until I remembered that I couldn¡¯t have possibly get the 500 Credits from the lottery. I recalled that I need to fill in a complete basic information about myself at that event to participate the lottery. However, my thoughts were a bit blurry at the time and I clearly remembered that I didn¡¯t fill in every bracket, which meant these Credits came from someone else.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a coincidence that the day I got free Credits from someone I don¡¯t know is the same day I got that creepy audio recorder. I want the both of you to find out who is doing this and why. I¡¯ll give you the 500 Credits to you if you manage to find the answer. Also, don¡¯t tell me about ¡±

    ¡°I see. Alright, I accept your request, Mr.Rudar. Please follow me back to my desk to form a contract. My apprentice and I will begin the investigation as soon as you step out from this room.¡± Kibo gets onto his feet with his arm directing his client to his desk.

    ¡°Mr.Rudas, is that really the only reason you came to us?¡± Rey¡¯s abrupt sentence halted his movement towards the desk, ¡°If you need our help to solve your problem, you have to tell us everything you know about it.¡± The cyclops immediately turned his head towards Rey with a slightly horrified expression. It seems Rey¡¯s ability to read auras wasn¡¯t well received.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Even though you had supposedly told us everything and placed your trust on us to solve this problem, your fist is still clenched up from the moment I saw you, indicating you might still have some worries in your heart. This could be translated to: you are withholding certain information that you are unsure if you want to disclose it or not.¡±

    The cyclops let out a subtle breath of relief and the expression he previously had have faded; he thought he had his mind read, ¡°Yes, you are right,¡± he then turned his body to align it with his head¡¯s direction, ¡°*Sigh I tried to throw the recorder yesterday. I thought it was a prank, so after I found it, I just tossed it on my table without giving it a thought. But, after I threw it away for the first time because it¡¯s cluttering my desk, I heard a knock on the door 10 minutes later. When I opened the door, the recorder came back. I was freaked out; I didn¡¯t know what to do. Then I threw it again. The knocking returned and the recorder was there, on the ground, once more.¡±

    ¡°I wanted to find someone to help me, but it was too late into the night, so I had to wait until morning. I went for the detectives first, but because there was no harm done and some of them seem to be busying themselves with a smuggling case, they refused to help me, although they did recommend me to come here. So here I am.¡±

    Rey tipped his head slightly at the cyclops, ¡°I apologize for my rudeness.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I should¡¯ve told you both about this.¡±

    As the two older students form an official contract, Rey subtly used his Ingenium to scan the recorder to see if there were something else in the device. After that¡¯s done, he let Hinoko sniff at it to make extra sure there weren¡¯t any undesirable component inside.

    ¡°Mr.Rudas, I¡¯ll start the investigation from the mysterious placement of the recorder. I will need you to take me to your room and tell me every detail you can recall during the time period where you find the device and when you tried to throw it. In the meantime, my apprentice will search for clues from the file inside the recorder.¡± He lifted his hand again. This time, it¡¯s aimed at the door. Rudas nodded, and the both of them left.

    The boy ambled to the chair in front of the desk and sat on it. He placed the recorder on the table to be analysed. This way, after he played the recorder, the programs installed in the table can capture easily missable details in the file.

    The moment he pressed ¡®Play¡¯, a large and sudden sound burst out. A split second later, the sounds transformed into individual, incompatible, soft sounds. Then, another burst of large sound came and went before returning to the soft sounds. The cycle repeats inconsistently for about a minute before stopping.

    A hologram popped up as soon as the examination of the file was complete. He then went through a few standard test for the file. There were hints that the file was indeed carrying a hidden message, but he couldn¡¯t figure out the complete picture.

    He listened to it a couple times to figure out what other methods he should use. Running it through the music database on the web would just waste his time. Suddenly, he remembered something. He quickly downloaded a specific music synthesising program and changed the format of the audio file before opening with that very program. A few clicks later, the message was revealed.

    All the notes in the file were arranged to spell out a few letters and numbers: R4 S5 R15-37. It¡¯s a coordinate. He didn¡¯t think to call his mentor and went straight to that coordinate.

    He arrived in front a normal looking door. He didn¡¯t bother to check what kind of room is he going to step in. He entered the numbers into the keypad and went in. It was dark and there wasn¡¯t anyone inside. He switched on the lights and it was revealed to him that this is a small-scale conference room. The elongated table and chairs in the middle were in poor condition, indicating there hasn¡¯t been anyone here for a long time.

    Since there were nothing suspicious here, he scanned the room with different spectrums of light. When that didn¡¯t work, he played the audio inside the room. Nothing. Revealing spell? Nothing. Ingenium? Nope.

    After seeing her master starting to get frustrated, she jumped off his shoulder and onto the table.

    He decided to suspend his attempts to find clues in this room and called his mentor. Perhaps he found new leads.

    ¡°Reynard, did you found anything in the audio file?¡±

    ¡°Yes. A coordinate was hidden inside the file. Ring 4, Section 5, Room 15-37.¡±

    ¡°I assume you already went ahead and ran a few tests already?¡±

    ¡°Yes. But I can¡¯t seem to locate anything remotely suspicious.¡±

    ¡°I think I have a solution, though it¡¯s still incomplete yet. I finished my part of the investigation here. I¡¯ll meet you in ten minutes.¡±

    Of course, while waiting for his mentor, he tried using a newly learned spell to see if there was a shadow dimension built in the room. He didn¡¯t dare to cast it initially because it drains a lot of Mana, but as the persistent person that he is, he stubbornly cast it anyway. The result was fruitless. There was no shadow dimension. So now, he sat against the dusty wall catching his breath. A few minutes after, his mentor arrived.

    ¡°You okay?¡± He inquired. Rey slowly stood up and waved his hand once. He had recovered half of the Mana he lost.

    ¡°What did you found?¡± ¡°I managed to uncover the source of the money. Someone hacked into an inactive account and made it looked like it was the organiser of the event that sent the money. The only reason I managed to find it was because the hacker purposely left a trail for me to follow. I traced it back to a bot, but there was nothing to follow beyond that. The bot was encoded with a message. I had to spend some time translating it to elvish.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t find anything about the where the recorder came from though. There was no evidence denoting someone brought the recorder to Mr.Rudas¡¯s front door. Maybe a drone was used, or an undetected teleportation spell that did the trick. Anything on the recorder itself?¡± Rey shook his head.

    ¡°Hm. Should¡¯ve expected. Let¡¯s head out. I want to try something.¡± The fox leaped back to her favourite spot on the apprentice as he followed his mentor out of the room. Standing in front of the keypad, Kibo activated his Circulum. He pressed a few stuff on the screen before rotating it with his finger. As the holographic screen and the keypad met face to face, he pressed an icon at the back of the screen and a series of visual codes ran from the top to the bottom. After three seconds, the codes stopped while the screen on the keypad ran crazy for another few seconds before it went back to normal and opened the door itself.

    ¡°Bingo.¡± He grinned, ¡°I¡¯ll explain it to you once we get inside. Don¡¯t want to cause any unnecessary leak.¡± He then pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Rey ensured no one was watching them before he did it too. The door shut itself at the same time the apprentice had a good glance at the room.

    It was pitch black inside. The both of them turned on the ¡®Torch¡¯ app and discovered that there was absolutely nothing inside. It was a cubical room of 5 meters at each side. Only the floor was grey in colour while the other five were white. It was strangely hot in there, and Hinoko was definitely getting uncomfortable.

    ¡°The bot I encountered had a pack of foreign codes and an instruction injected into it. The instructions only say: ¡®Use this in front of the keypad.¡¯ I have to admit, I had no idea what to do with it, until you called me.¡± Rey listened as he approached the right wall and touched it. He felt a weird sensation. The wall...was warm. He could felt the heat radiating from the wall, but some part of it was not.

    ¡°Kibo, turn off the light.¡± He did as his apprentice asked. The boy also turned off his light but he immediately activated another app. The heat signature app swiftly scanned the entire room and used that data to create a picture. He had to walk around a few blind spots to complete the image. He stared at the image formed and¡­he couldn¡¯t understand anything. There was indeed a large picture drawn on the walls with heat, somehow. However, there were patches of emptiness preventing the image to be understood.

    ¡°We¡¯ve come here too late. It seems like the patches of nothingness were also once have ¡®heat patterns¡¯ on them, but it cooled down.¡± The older Solver didn¡¯t reply verbally and ambled to one of the patches before brushing it with his hand. As soon as he did that, he felt something odd about the wall. This time, he gently feels the surface of the wall, and he noticed there were obscure bumps on it. He took a look at the image formed by the heat signature app again and located the cold spots(not the patches) among the heat image. The spots were there to create contrast.

    He compared the sensation of touching the patches and the spots and came to a conclusion. Something was there, on the patches. He informed Rey his discovery and they started examining the bumps. They let their Circulums to inspect this mysterious material. The Circulums showed them a bunch of chemical compounds which Rey doesn¡¯t recognize while Kibo, on the other hand, had a vague impression that he saw this before. He managed to recall bits of information regarding those compounds: it can be found inside a plant.

    As he lets the Circulum find a match in the database, Rey wanted so badly to take off his shirt and threw it on the ground. It was so hot in there. He had to forcefully refrain himself not to use his Ingenium to cool his body down. He couldn¡¯t believe how Kibo was able to stay silent whilst wearing that relatively thick suit. In the end, he used a wind spell to cool himself down. He didn¡¯t want to do it initially because he was worried it would affect something on the walls, but he couldn¡¯t take it anymore, and so does his familiar.

    ¡°Found it. It¡¯s the sap of the Water Writer. The sap will turn opaque once the right amount of H2O is sprinkled on top of it.¡± So this is the reason why there was a faint odor. Kibo thought it came from him, or the fox.

    Rey knew about that one, ¡°Which strain? How old was it?¡± ¡°Forest Mist Strain. Six years old. Did you know a mist spell?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good. Send me the picture captured by the heat signature app. We¡¯ll be doing some puzzle soon.¡±

    Rey sent the image and cast the spell. The mist slowly came into existence around his body and spread out towards the entire room. The both of them quickly activated their Torch app again alongside the Camera app whilst Hinoko climbed up to Rey¡¯s head and create some sort of fire bubble to prevent herself getting wet.

    It was going to be a pain. The mist had to be so thick that they can barely see anything in front of them at the same time they need to see clearly to take photos of the patches. Rey really hopes this would work. The heat spots would dissipate once the mist was up and there will be no way to bring them back to see if there were more secrets hidden in the spots.

    After they¡¯re done, Rey retracted his spell and the room was apparent again. After that, they fit the picture of the patches into the empty spaces of the previous image and the complete image was finally presented before them. They then ran the image through a program to ¡®clean it up¡¯ so it could be seen more clearly.

    The image was a silhouette picture. There was a person, probably a male, with an obvious white dot on his arm, sitting on a chair as he ate the food on his plate. At the background, large glass panels can be seen; below the glass panels were pots of twister-like plants. Although it¡¯s quite hard to notice, shadows cast by objects were also included.

    ¡°This is the dormitory¡¯s cafeteria in the Zivot Section.¡± Kibo recognize those plants in the background. They were hard to forget.

    ¡°Assuming we are supposed to find the person in the image, there are no clues indicating when will the person be there, in that position.¡±

    ¡°That is if that person will be there at all. We¡¯ll have to make a lot of assumptions. Hopefully, none of them will be wrong. Ideas?¡± He had a few, but considering how well their first case did, he wanted to see what Rey would come up with first.

    ¡°I would have to assume that this person will be there at that table, every day, during a fixed time period for this image to be a viable clue for the next one. I presume you have the knowledge to locate the spot where this image was showing?¡± He shifted his attention to the corner of his eye at Kibo for his confirmation. The Demi nodded slightly and his attention went back to the image.

    ¡°No Sun in the image...could you zoom in and see if there were shadows in the image?¡± Rey used both of his hands to zoom in at places he thought might have shadows.

    ¡°Hmm...Stop. There, did you see it?¡± The apprentice only detected the faint shadows on the ¡®ground¡¯ when his mentor pointed his finger at it.

    ¡°The shadows were closer to the glass panels, so the time the image was portraying is probably around 5 or 6 in the evening. We still have a few hours to go.¡±

    ¡°We better don¡¯t waste it then.¡± Kibo swirled towards the direction of the door and proceeded to exit the room. When the both of them were in the hallway, the older Solver¡¯s Circulum let out an emergency beeping sound. Once the screen was up, a notification tells him that the code he extracted from the bot was corrupted, which meant they could never return to that room.

    ¡°Looks like my Circulum needs some checking. Hopefully, the hacker¡¯s code won¡¯t give me any trouble.¡± He mumbled to himself as they teleported to the Eintracht gate. The board the train and arrived at their destination shortly after. Although they did not communicate with each other, they automatically knew they should act like they were searching for someone in the cafeteria that would sometimes be late and sometimes won¡¯t. It¡¯s to prevent potential suspicion that would be cast upon them.

    They subsequently put an end to their search after an hour and began finding the perfect spot to not only able to observe the mysterious person perfectly and stayed out of his sight, but could also reach him fast enough if he tries to escape. After all that was done, they began to wait. Kibo sat beside a table which was somewhere between the elevator and the location seen in the image. Rey, on the other hand, was sitting very close, only two tables behind their target.

    He semi-regretted coming here so early. There were still a few hours until the estimated time. Nevertheless, he ordered some food for him and Hinoko to eat while he continued watching his philosophy video.

    During that period of time, he overheard a conversation about a manga series. He kinda wondered why he felt he heard these kinds of conversation so often.

    ¡°Hey, listen. I recently read a shoujo manga that was about a girl meeting a boy with a cat head, but only she saw the cat head, nobody else did.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s weird.¡±

    ¡°Maybe, but it¡¯s also super interesting. Because the girl was an airhead and very innocent, she would sometimes create very intriguing moments. The best thing about this one is that when the plot was getting cliche, like her classmate getting jealous at her for hogging the cat boy, the issue was resolved in a very non-traditional way and nobody had hard feelings for each other afterward. Heck, they even became friends!¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Did the girl managed to see the boy¡¯s real face in the end?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a spoiler. Why don¡¯t you check it out yourself?¡±

    The hours passed quickly. Both of the Solvers immediately halted their personal activities and commenced their observation.

    To Be Continued.

 Solver(2)

    The hours passed quickly. Both of the Solvers immediately halted their personal activities and commenced their observation.

    Another hour flew by before the mysterious person had, thankfully, appeared. It was an elf, with a black dot on his relatively pale arm, in the same position as the image. He was scrawny, around the age of 16, and looked less mature than his peers. Kibo ordered Rey to contact him until he had finished his meal, just in case he was an average student who got marked for no particular reason.

    The elf ate fast, they didn¡¯t have to wait long. He slowly approached the elf and said, ¡°Hello. I have some questions I want to ask--¡± The elf instantaneously wrapped himself a few meters away, started running, then wrapped himself again, this time even closer to the elevator.

    As he was only a few steps away from his escape, Kibo suddenly jumped out and blocked the elf¡¯s way, stunning him for a second. That one second allowed Rey to catch up and use a restriction spell to stop him from moving. He started screaming when he dropped into the ground after losing his balance.

    ¡°Get away from me you gangsters!!¡± The Demi¡¯s feet found its way to the side of the elf¡¯s face. He then crouches and attempted to calm him down, ¡°Easy there, buddy. We¡¯re Solvers, we¡¯re not here to hurt you,¡± He promptly brought up the Solver variation of The Analytical Mind insignia using his Circulum, ¡°See this? If we¡¯re like the ¡®gangsters¡¯ you speak of, I can¡¯t own this insignia.¡±

    The elf composed himself, but remained skeptical, ¡°How do I know for sure? There¡¯s a possibility you managed to hack...whatever you need to hack to get it.¡± Rey was sure the elf felt stupid for asking that question.

    ¡°Unless you have the single most important secret in all of Speir at the palm of your hand, I don¡¯t think anyone would want to hack Arthur Bell¡¯s system.¡± Kibo stared down seriously at the elf¡¯s evading eyes.

    ¡°Rey, release the spell.¡± The Demi helped him got up to his feet after the spell was broken. Out of nowhere, a human approached the three of them from the crowd and spectacles before he spoke loudly.

    ¡°Excellent work, gentlemen. Now, would you kindly hand him over to me?¡± Rey turned his head towards the owner of the voice and his face immediately turned into ??. The human had a prideful demeanour but his facial features were quite plain. Rey could already tell what was going to happen next. It¡¯s too predictable.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Kibo glanced at him, ¡°I¡¯m Huai, and I¡¯m a detective hired by the Student Council to investigate a smuggling case that has been going on since the start of the semester. Now, please hand him over to me. I suspect he has some valuable information concerning the case I have been working on.¡±

    ¡°Really? Are you deliberately breaking the rules? You do realize whoever get to the suspect first has the right to interrogate them before anyone else, right? Including people hired by the Student Council?¡±

    ¡°So what? I¡¯m certain whatever case you Solvers are working on is less paramount than MY case, which is capturing smugglers smuggling drugs into the Academy. Now please, before I get angry, hand me the suspect!¡± He rudely grabbed the elf¡¯s arm and tried to leave. However, Rey already had his hand, the one with the Circulum, beside his ear.

    ¡°Hello? Enforcers? My name is Reynard Foxtale, I¡¯m a Solver in-training. I have apprehended a suspect, however, a detective has--¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait! Alright, you win. I will let him go now, just remember to call me once you''re done with him. Hey, lizard Demi, give me your number.¡± That was incredibly rude, but Kibo thought it was too troublesome to argue with someone like that.

    ¡°My name is Kibo.¡± Number sent.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, whatever.¡± He walked away as fast as he can.

    Of course, they didn''t just randomly find a table and sat down to talk. Kibo asked the management there if he could borrow a private space for the interrogation. They ended up in one of the guest room. He also gave his apprentice a lecture about ¡®appearing nice¡¯ will less likely to tip off people. It seems someone''s going to spend some time with his roommate in acting class.

    ¡°We also want to get this over with quickly, so please answer truthfully. First off, what is your name?¡± The elf sat on a couch while Kibo stood in front of him. The Demi was the one doing the interrogation; he¡¯s not letting Rey handling this anytime soon.

    ¡°Call me Tel. Is this about what I saw yesterday? How did you guys know about it anyway? Or are you actually--"

    ¡°What about yesterday?¡±

    ¡°So you guys don''t know? And here I am, terrified of what I think you''re trying to do.¡±

    ¡°What do you think we''re trying to do?¡±

    ¡°I dunno, torture me maybe? Anyway, how did you guys managed to find me anyway if you''re not here for what I think you are?¡±

    ¡°We came across a silhouette image of you when we were conducting an investigation. We wanted to know why. This is the proof.¡± Kibo showed him the image and he instantly jumped up.

    ¡°It¡¯s you guys! And here I thought I¡¯m having a bad day!¡± He frantically dug into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper, ¡°Here.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Rey, who was standing beside his mentor, grabbed the paper and asked.

    ¡°Two days ago, I received a message. It told me to send a piece of paper lying in front of my door to whoever came to me and let me look at an image of me. I¡¯m pretty sure that message means you two.¡± He swung his forefinger back and forth between the two Solvers.

    ¡°I assume you have some benefit from doing this?¡± Rey was only paying half attention to the conversation and has been examining the paper. There was nothing on it and there were no traces of anyone writing or drawing something on it, even if they use special inks. Maybe something was printed on it with invisible inks?

    ¡°Yes. Whoever sent the message gave me a hundred Credits. A hundred! Just for delivering this paper to you guys by putting it into my pocket every day.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your cooperation. Have a nice day.¡± They shook hands.

    ¡°No problem. *Sigh Now I got to deal with that stupid detective.¡± He let go of his hand powerlessly. Just the thought of talking to that pretentious human made him sick.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking,¡± The older Solver said as he sends a message to Huai, ¡°Why did the detective come for you? What ¡®valuable information¡¯ did you have? I¡¯m quite curious.¡± Message sent.

    ¡°Hmm, let me think about it for a sec.¡± He scratched the back of his head for a second, ¡°*Sigh I still don¡¯t feel like talking about it. Sorry.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to apologize. If you don¡¯t want to say it, then I won¡¯t pry any further.¡± He winked.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± The door slid open at that exact moment, and Huai began to speak.

    ¡°Since you two no longer have business here, I would suggest you two to get out from this room ASAP.¡± The two Solvers sauntered out of the room while rolling their eyes. What a dick, even Hinoko thought the same.

    Once outside the room, Kibo decided it was time to suspend their work.

    ¡°It¡¯s getting late, Reynard. I suggest we continue our investigation tomorrow morning. Keep the paper. If you find anything, remember to tell me, understand?¡± Rey nodded. He sent a message to Eli soon after they parted ways to see if he had finished his classes. His reply was that he still have a few minutes left. Rey agreed to wait for him and went straight back to his dorm¡¯s cafeteria.

    As he waited for his roommate, he was getting frustrated for not being able to crack the secret of the paper. He rarely interacts with paper, excluding the time he spent in the temple, and that¡¯s saying a lot from a person who lived in the Outer Regions. Long before his wrath would erupt, Eli appeared and the two of them proceeded to enjoy their dinner. Eli kept on talking about his day while Rey just listened since he can¡¯t say anything about the case and he pretty much spent his day not interacting with other people.

    After they returned to their room, Rey lied down on his bed, stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out how to start looking for hints about what the paper actually is. Since he was getting nowhere, why not close his eyes and¡­¡­.

    Eli was doing his homework. He was focusing hard, hands moving on the holographic keyboard as fast as they could when suddenly Rey leaped out from his bed and landed on the ground hard, essentially breaking Eli¡¯s concentration. He turned around and watched his roommate dashed into the kitchenette. He wanted to follow, but Rey ordered him loudly not to do so.

    What¡¯s he going to do now, continue doing his homework? He can¡¯t pull back his attention after Rey¡¯s mysterious actions piqued his interests! So, the next logical move was to watch some videos to shoo away his intense desire to know what his roommate is doing.

    Now, in the bathroom, with his familiar, he took out the paper and commanded Hinoko to transform into human form.

    ¡°Hinoko, listen carefully. After I cast a barrier spell, I want you to set the entire interior of the barrier on fire, with the paper in the middle. However, you have to set the temperature of the fire as low as possible, only raise the temperature when I said so, okay?¡± She nodded enthusiastically. He cast the spell, creating a ¡®bubble¡¯ that took up more than half the bathroom¡¯s space, not before he used a levitation spell to fix the paper in the middle.

    ¡°Do it now.¡± She raised up her hands and a bright flame came into existence within the bubble. Nothing extraordinary happened. Rey gestured her to raise the temperature with his finger. As the fire gets hotter and hotter, words began to appear. Eventually, her master stopped her from cranking up the heat once the words became legible.

    It was another coordinate, followed by these words and numbers: USE THE RECORDER 011820 080119.

    After the flame had vanished, the paper was gone too. Hinoko transformed back to a fox, Rey retreated from the bathroom and called his mentor.

    <hr>

    ¡°You knew that was a Flame Card from the start?¡± The door beside the keypad opened as Rey turned around and questioned Kibo.

    ¡°You learned something new, didn¡¯t you?¡± His mentor walked past him and into the room he went.

    ¡°You wasted my time.¡± He wasn¡¯t angry, but he was greatly annoyed by his mentor¡¯s actions. It was a pointless act. He closed the door once inside the room. Hinoko used her paw and patted Rey¡¯s head to calm him down. He showed his appreciation by grinning slightly.

    His instinct told him that this room was used for storage purposes, yet there were large empty spaces for the two of them to roam around. On the table, at the other side of the room, was a PC with high processing power. From the looks of the ¡®hole¡¯ in between the tightly arranged boxes hidden from plain sight, it seems the PC was taken out from there by someone else and relocate it so that the two Solvers don¡¯t need to spend time finding it.

    Once Kibo switched on the PC, a large collection of camera footage was shown on the screen. He wanted to enlarge one of the footages, but no matter how hard he tried, he can¡¯t control any aspects of the PC. It was obvious that someone else was controlling it; even more so when a section of footages was chosen to take up the entire screen.

    Through the camera footages, they could see two groups of people were discussing something in a humongous cargo hold, which was to say that they were in the Academy¡¯s underground area. One group had a lot of sinister-looking people behind a bald, tough orc while the other only has ten, all in dark hoods. Behind the hooded gang was stacks of small containers on a floating cargo transporter, where most its members were. They were guarding it.

    One thing that caught the two Solvers¡¯ eyes was a suspicious person stealthily advancing towards the small containers. The PC automatically zoomed in on that individual. They can¡¯t see the individual¡¯s face, but it was definitely an elf.

    The elf continued on until he was close enough to the containers while still remaining out of sight. Then, he grabbed something out from his pocket and put it on the ground. The device, after being activated, levitated for a few seconds before going invisible, flew towards the space between the base of the transporter and the ground.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    After that, the elf did something with his Circulum. When he deactivated it, one of the camera on screen, the one closest to the two groups, suddenly stopped functioning. From the other cameras, it appears that the camera which was shut down has fallen onto the ground. As soon as that happened, the elf quietly retreated back to the larger group.

    At first, there were little to no reaction. The orc slowly stepped forward and examined the unknown item. After that, he started shouting at the hooded gang. The leader of the hooded people shouted back. This continued back and forth for some time before the heated argument cooled back down. As they were debating in a serious manner, the cameras slowly ceased to function one by one in the same manner as the first one. Soon, all of the footages cut to black, not before a series of numbers, 19050318052019, ran across the screen.

    ¡°Those numbers, it spelled S-E-C-R-E-T-S. Secrets. Rey, what did the numbers from the Flame Card translates to?¡± He was getting uneasy. What did the person who lead them here want? He hated getting involved in this kind of cases. Too ¡®dirty¡¯.

    ¡°Art has.¡± ¡°Art has secrets?¡± He stayed silent for a few seconds, ¡°The audio file in the recorder had a coordinate embedded in it. By this logic, could the image we found also had a secret?¡± Kibo pulled out the image through his Circulum, but he didn¡¯t do anything because he wasn¡¯t sure where to start.

    ¡°Ideas?¡± Rey immediately activated his Ingenium and touched his head with his hand. A split second later, he had answers.

    ¡°Maybe something like a QR code.¡± ¡°Hmm, highly probable. I thought it would be something similar to the audio file, where we have to break down the structure of the image.¡± He allowed a program to rotate the image in different angles to find if there was indeed a matrix code inside.

    ¡°Unlikely. We didn¡¯t spend more than a few hours to figure out each and every clue.¡± ¡°True.¡± One minute passed. The program gave out a satisfying ¡®Ding¡¯ once it has finished analysing the image.

    Kibo brought out an extra Circulum from his PDS and used it to scan the matrix code which was indeed hidden in the silhouette picture. It was a basic precaution.

    A few moments later, the screen of the extra Circulum became wrapped and twisted before it returned to normal and with a writing software opened.

    Hello. Someone was remotely typing those words into the software.

    Hello, hacker. Would you mind explain why we¡¯re talking by words while I¡¯m standing in a storage room? Not that I¡¯m complaining, being in a dark room with no idea what is actually going on is pretty comfortable, although it would be a great help if you do. The sarcastic words the Demi typed in was in a different colour so neither of them would get confused who¡¯s ¡®talking¡¯. Rey glanced at Kibo with slight disbelief at his change of personality before the hacker replied and grabbed his attention.

    My reason for setting up this elaborate plan was to ensure no one else other than the person who possesses the recorder can find his or her way here.

    And the reason we are currently standing in front of a PC displaying footages of a meeting between two probably malicious group is because¡­?

    I had recently discovered an ongoing illegal drug tradings within the Academy. What you saw just now was merely one of the scheduled trading between the Skulls and an unknown group beyond the walls of our sacred school. Sacred school? Really? Rey couldn¡¯t help but cringed a little. I am determined to uncover this ugly business to the public. However, due to my, unfortunately, troublesome circumstances, I cannot do that. Hence, I devised a plan that would not only achieve my goals, it would also protect my anonymity at the same time.

    That¡¯s a solid plan, I admit, but I suppose you don¡¯t think we would do this for free now would you?

    I already gave enough money to the cyclops to cover your expenses.

    He requested us to find out the truth behind the recorder you gave him, which we did. So, since your request is different from his and you are essentially another client, you¡¯ll have to pay separately.

    ¡­If it will convince you to bring these bad people to justice, then I shall give it to you. I will send you an account number once you have completed my request.

    Thank you very much, but I don¡¯t trust strangers to hold their end of the bargain, especially if all I know about them were from a bunch of words on a screen.

    ¡­...Fair enough. Here¡¯s the account number for half of what I can give you. Kibo quickly memorized the following numbers and alphabets and checked the account to see if it¡¯s valid.

    Alright, your account number checks out. So, what do you want us to do?

    <hr>

    ¡°I appreciate the trust you place in us. We have checked the area thoroughly. This time there won¡¯t be any more cameras around.¡± Said the dwarf with a skull tattoo on his arm. The hooded person didn¡¯t have any reaction, which made the dwarf even more paranoid.

    ¡°We¡¯re very sorry to even suspect--¡± The hooded person raised up his hand to stop the dwarf from speaking any further. Then, he activated his Circulum and the Trade window was displayed on his screen. The dwarf quickly brought up his Trade window and both of them began to fill in the details of their trading.

    ¡°Gentlemen, sorry to interrupt, but I don¡¯t think the Student Council would allow such activities happening under the Academy.¡± The door abruptly opened and followed by Huai¡¯s sudden speech.

    Both of the groups immediately drew their gun on him. However, their attempt to get themselves out from this sticky situation as large numbers of Defenders flooded into the titanic room from behind Huai has failed when more Defenders phased through the walls and have them surrounded.

    ¡°If you guys are smart, then I¡¯m sure all of you won¡¯t be stupid enough to try attack to us and getting yourselves even longer sentences.¡± He smiled smugly and victoriously. Once he heard two pairs of footsteps approached him, he swirled to his back.

    ¡°I thank you both very much. If not for your help, this operation would go on much, much longer. If either of you ever need my help, just say the word,¡± Rey impassively drew closer to Huai and uttered, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, would you mind lifting your arms up a bit?¡± ¡°Okay?¡± He raised both his arms up until his chest,¡°Thanks,¡± and was rapidly cuffed by Rey holding a metallic, slender cylinder between the detective¡¯s wrist. A bright lump of ¡®energy¡¯ extended from both ends and wrapped around his wrists while his expression transformed from confused to shock.

    ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡± He recovered from his astonishment and rage spread across his entire body.

    ¡°What does it look like, Huai?¡± A skeleton wearing the official uniform of the Student Council sauntered into Huai¡¯s vision. Although his skeletal appearance was a bit menacing, the white and blue patterns of the long sleeves shirt and trousers, the kevlar gloves and boots, his green cross ¡®eyes¡¯, and his awesome skull which seems like it came straight out from an action movie made sure he looked as good as any humanoids with flesh, ¡°You are under arrest.¡±

    ¡°For what?!¡± He was getting agitated. He pointlessly tried to break the cuffs but to no avail.

    ¡°For allowing the illegal drug trading to continue even under your surveillance and conspiring with one of the members of the Skulls to sell those very same drugs.¡±

    ¡°What?! I did NOT conspire--¡±

    ¡°So you DID turn a blind eye at the illegal drug trading.¡± Rey grinned. The other human began to panic and stutter.

    ¡°I--NO! I! DIDN¡¯T! You WILL release me this instance you little brat!¡± He switched his attention to the skeleton, ¡°And you! To think you would spout nonsense to make me a criminal just because you hate me!¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be nonsense if I had proof.¡± ¡°Oh yeah?! Show it to me then!¡± Rey and the skeleton glanced at each other. Then, the young Solver ambled towards the hooded group¡¯s leader and uncovers his face.

    ¡°Tel?¡± The dwarf uttered once he saw the elf¡¯s face, ¡°Son of a bitch! You¡¯re the goddamn traitor!¡± The dwarf was furious; his voice laced with anger. The defenders had to silence him before he caused any more commotion. As for the elf, Rey pushed him towards Huai cause he was reluctant to move.

    Tel stood beside Huai with a frown whilst the latter spoke again, ¡°Well?! Does anyone wants to give me an explanation as for why my hands are still bounded?! ></img>¡±

    ¡°Shut up Huai. Let the boy talk.¡± The skeleton¡¯s gaze was quite frightening for the pathetic human to handle.

    ¡°Well, I would go the extra mile and say that your motivation for doing all this was to bribe both of the Skulls and the hooded group by ordering Tel to use the information he gathered and place your cameras at each meeting spots. I would also say that since you were getting greedy, you set up a scheme to steal all the drugs via Tel¡¯s help and sell them to the Skulls. I could go on and on about your elaborate plan and how every part of it works,¡± Huai¡¯s face turned grim. The situation wasn¡¯t looking good for him.

    ¡°But I won¡¯t. You want to know why?¡± The boy¡¯s grin evolved into a devilish smile.

    The detective gulped, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because we have this video.¡± He activated his Circulum and pressed on the latest video file. He flipped the screen and let the two criminals take a good, long look at it.

    The video showed the two of them speaking with each other after the two Solvers had walked out from the room where they interrogate Tel. All of them could hear the two criminals conversing with each other about their plan. This video was provided by the hacker, though they didn¡¯t mention how they managed to sneak in a camera into the room unnoticed or that they KNEW the Solvers would go there in the first place. Rey wasn¡¯t curious enough to ask whilst Kibo wasn¡¯t motivated enough to do so.

    ¡°Heh, heh heh. How do I know that you two didn¡¯t manufactured this video to frame me, huh?! There are a lot of programs on the web to synthesise a video like this!¡± He tried his damn best to not show his rising anxiety on his face.

    ¡°What if I told you that we also get a hold of your secret PC that has been observing the illegal drug trading? I¡¯m sure it would be enough to convince everyone that you have no intention of ending these tradings when you already have enough evidence to put these traders down.¡± This, coupled with Kibo¡¯s smug face and Rey¡¯s mocking grin, completely threw the rogue detective into total despair. Although he wanted to know how in hell does those two bloody Solvers figured out his flawless plans and discovered his perfectly hidden PC, he was too depressed to even give a shit.

    ¡°Take them away. Send a report of their interrogation to me as soon as possible.¡± The skeleton said to the Defenders escorting the criminals. When Tel went past Rey, he saw the elf giving him a split second sinister glance. He caught that look, and so did Hinoko. She acted aggressively towards him. Rey could tell his familiar was also feeling the uneasiness lurking between them.

    Anyway, once they were out of sight, Hinoko calmed down, and the skeleton turned back and stared at the Solvers.

    ¡°I thank you both, from the bottom of my aetherial heart, for finally ending this exhausting operation. Huai has been giving us both true and, now that I realize it, false leads to lengthening his case and I finally know why. Say,¡± Though he has no flesh, his ¡®eyes¡¯ could perform the action of squinting them, ¡°How did you two have so many intel on this whole thing, especially the location and time of the meeting we just raided? And how is your case connected to this one? I demand an explanation.¡±

    ¡°If you can swear not to tell anyone about it.¡± The Demi negotiated.

    ¡°I know you have rules to protect your client¡¯s secrets, but the Student Council can and will override that rule if necessary. So, tell me what I need to know and I¡¯ll decide if I would tell the higher ups about it.¡± The sentence was made even more intimidating when a spooky scary skeleton said it.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been investigating about a strange occurrence that has befallen on a cyclops. We followed the clues and we eventually found out that a hacker was the one responsible for leading us to Huai¡¯s PC. They revealed that they have been collecting evidence for the recent smuggling cases but had to find someone else to hand the evidence to the authority due to personal reasons. So, we accept his request and did just that.¡±

    ¡°I see. Then what do you know about this unknown samaritan? I assume you have a reason to call this individual a hacker.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do. It¡¯s quite a long story though.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. If that¡¯s the case, send me a report. You would have to write one anyway, won¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°That is correct.¡±

    ¡°Alright, you can go. I won¡¯t say anything about your client for now. However, I would advise you not to undertake any more underground requests in the future. If this hacker is proved to be a potential threat, you¡¯ll be brought in to be investigated. And you wouldn¡¯t want that, would you?¡±

    ¡°But we managed to crack the case you couldn¡¯t, didn¡¯t we? This would be a sufficient prove that it¡¯s not illogical to take some risks, even if the undertaken case wasn¡¯t meant to serve justice.¡± Rey retorted. He hated those kinds of dumb advice.

    Kibo glared at his apprentice. Is he stupid?!

    The skeleton gazed into the boy¡¯s eyes silently. Then, he spoke.

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true. But remember, win too many gambles and you will eventually slip up.¡± He ambled past the Solvers once the last word has been uttered. Then I¡¯ll make sure I never do, Rey swore to himself.

    <hr>

    ¡°....And that is how it all went down.¡± Both the younger and older Solvers had finally finished alternatingly recount the events that had taken place during their investigation to their client.

    ¡°Wow. I definitely did NOT expect all of that to happen. I thought you guys would find out that it was someone pranking me but this is much more interesting! I feel like I¡¯ve contributed a little to putting an end to these illegal drug tradings even though all I did was handing you guys a weird case.¡±

    ¡°Your contribution to maintaining the peace of the Academy is more than you think, Mr.Rudas.¡± Kibo smiled.

    ¡°If you say so, heh,¡± A short pause ensued, ¡°So, how much should I pay you guys?¡±

    ¡°Since the hacker gave us quite a lot of money, I¡¯ll take 200 Credits as payment.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s¡­really cheap?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­not really.¡± The Demi¡¯s expression strangely turned guilty. ¡°What do you mean--¡± His eyes became wide open when he saw the Credits he had, ¡°What the hell?! I just lost 400 Credits!¡± Kibo sighed and lowered his head while Rudas was terrified and shocked.

    ¡°I had a hunch that the hacker might pull out the Credits he gave you and then gave it to us themselves. Don¡¯t worry, you can just give us the remaining 100 Credits and this case will be officially closed.¡± The cyclops¡¯ eventual disappointment turned slightly into relief and paid the money.

    ¡°Goodbye, Mr.Rudas. I hope we have the chance to meet again.¡± Kibo said as he left the room like a walking corpse.

    ¡°Okay,¡± The mentor stretched his arms, ¡°Time to write a report. Remember Reynard, don¡¯t spend too much time writing it like you¡¯re a professional writer. Just keep it simple and quick.¡± He then used a ¡®pen¡¯ to write his report instead of typing it.

    ¡°Something doesn¡¯t feel right about this.¡± The apprentice suddenly said. This causes the fox he was gently touching on his lap perked up her head. The mentor moved his screen further to the left so he could see Rey, who was sitting on the couch. ¡°Why would the hacker do so much of unnecessary work just to end the illegal drug trading? No matter the reason holding them back for publicly release their findings, it couldn¡¯t have interfered with their ability to search for a much more efficient way to achieve their goals.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t put too much thought into it, Reynard. It¡¯s pointless to think about questions you have no answers to.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just that. Did you notice how Tel looked at me when he walked past me? It was as if he wasn¡¯t the same person we saw when we first met him even though his aura was the same¡­.¡±

    ¡°Reynard, look at me.¡± And so he did. He stared right at the Demi¡¯s eyes. ¡°Tell me, what are you trying to do? What will the answers provide you? A closure to your ¡®conspiracy gut feeling¡¯? Or is it satisfaction? Reynard, as a Solver, we would encounter many weird things during our cases and it¡¯s hard not to feel as if something was wrong. I¡¯m not saying it couldn¡¯t be right, this is the land where impossible is possible after all, but we can¡¯t waste our energy on every single suspicion you have. If you have evidence to support your claim, then that¡¯s fine; even if it seems ridiculous, as long as it is valid, then it¡¯s not a problem.¡±

    ¡°So, now you have two choices. Either you spend real time searching for clues that will answer your questions and hopefully uncovers something unexpected or you stop daydreaming and write your report. Arthur would be disappointed if you didn¡¯t hand in the report faster than I did, you know?¡± He put up a childish grin. He went back to work immediately while Rey turned his attention to his familiar.

    After staring silently at Hinoko for a few more seconds, he grabbed her and put her on the empty space beside him. He then activated his Circulum and wrote the report as fast as he could.

    ?End of Chapter 11?

 Untitled

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s all for today.¡± Rey deactivated his Ingenium immediately and lied down on the ground, slowly gasping for air. Brendon stood akimbo a few steps away from his pupil staring at him.

    ¡°You¡¯re having great progress, Rey. Did you have someone training you before you came to the Academy?¡± He instantly raised up his palm and did a ¡®halt¡¯ gesture, ¡°You know what, you don¡¯t need to answer that. I won¡¯t take no for an answer anyway.¡± Rey continued to stay silent, eyes closed, Hinoko stopped beside his face after she strolled from the other side of the cubicle. It¡¯s much larger than the one he was in when Brendon asked what his Ingenium is, but it¡¯s still smaller than most people would imagine.

    ¡°I live in the Outer Regions, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re wondering.¡± He did it again, Brendon thought. Throughout the nearly two-month¡¯s time training session with Rey, the boy has been ¡®reading¡¯ his mind again and again. Although Rey explained the aura thing and his ability to deduct a person¡¯s characteristic by observing them, he¡¯s still kinda skeptical. But, it has mostly been beneficial, like in this situation. He was interested to know where Rey lived to have such mastery over his Ingenium (usually, human children would just play around with their Ingenium instead of actually learning them). Now that he know his pupil resides in the harsh environment of the Outer Regions, it¡¯s a relief to accept the fact that the boy did soooo much better than him when he was in that age.

    ¡°I have something to announce.¡± Rey sat up after hearing that sentence and turned around to look at his teacher.

    ¡°Stage 1 of your lesson has officially ended. Now that you have grasped the techniques to improve the basic skills of your ability like the extension of your strip¡¯s width and length, the speed which they move through surfaces and air, the amount of strips you can make at the same time, the Mana cost of your Ingenium, and the chances of getting addicted to your Ingenium, it¡¯s time to move on to stage two--exploring the hidden skills of your Ingenium.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie, although the rate of which you improve the basic skills of your Ingenium isn¡¯t mind boggling, the time you took to pass Stage 1 is faster than most people. Kudos to you.¡± He raised a thumbs up.

    ¡°Soooo, do you already have some ideas about your new skills?¡± What was he asking, of course Rey already have a few ideas. Heck, he might already have a hundred ideas!

    ¡°Yes. I plan to incorporate my Ingenium into my martial art skills while using it together with spells.¡± He replied as he stood up.

    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s interesting. You never told me about you training to be a battle mage. But damn, magic plus martial arts plus Ingenium? That¡¯s one heck of a combination. Mind doing some demonstration?¡± He didn¡¯t wait for an answer and promptly used his Circulum to access the cubicle¡¯s system to summon an automated combat dummy. Seconds later, thousands of small cubes of silica nanofiber appeared from thin air and landed in the middle of the cubicle. The cubes swiftly arranged itself into a humanoid of Rey¡¯s size and height.

    ¡°Make it stop after I attack it once. I¡¯m already worn out.¡± He still have things to do after this and he definitely don¡¯t want to be sleepy for the rest of the day. ¡°You got it! Ready when you are.¡± He quickly brought up a Source+energy scanner so he wouldn¡¯t miss anything.

    ¡°Ready.¡± He swirled his finger in the air for a couple rounds before pressing ¡®Engage Battle Mode¡¯ and said, ¡°Action!¡±

    The robot rushed towards Rey and prepared to smash it¡¯s right arm onto Rey¡¯s head with all of its might. The boy activated his Ingenium, forced a group of strips to crawl to his left arm, forced another group of strips to his right knuckle, and connected those two groups of strips. When the robot¡¯s fist came in contact with that part of his left arm with strips, Rey, in a split second, punched the robot with his right arm and transformed all the kinetic energy delivered by the robots attack into a wind spell. Although the spell pushed the robot flying towards Brendon¡¯s direction, he dodged it like a pro without missing a beat on observing Rey¡¯s Ingenium in action. Eventually, the robot hit the wall and was smashed back into their small cubes. The cubes, now scattered across the ground, vanished one by one until none of them was left. Hinoko curiously touched one with her paws as the cubes disappear.

    ¡°That. Was. Amazing!! I mean, not only you conserve all the energy you produce when punching, you efficiently, one hundred percent, converted the dummy¡¯s energy of its attack into Mana you used to cast that spell! Astounding!¡± His eyes were sparkling with admiration.

    ¡°I also used my Ingenium to divert the sensation of pain produced by my block to my punch.¡± Rey added. [The sensation of pain are signals carried from the nerves to the brain. These signals are a form of energy, which is why Rey can do that.]

    Brendon was about to say something before he took the words dangling by his mouth back and spewed out something unexpected.

    ¡°Wait a minute. If that¡¯s the case, your Ingenium can literally grant you invincibility! I mean, if you had completely master every aspect of your Ingenium, which meant that you can cover your entire body with your strips. And if you can do that, this meant that every attack, physically or mentally, magic or not, as long as it has energy, can be either used as a source to power your every single attack or be totally ignored! No matter if you¡¯re falling from space, thrown into a lava or had a hydrogen bomb throw at your face, you would not suffer any form of damage!¡± Bredon felt excited beyond limits by just thinking the possibilities of this power.

    ¡°Ehem.¡± Rey managed to catch Brendon¡¯s attention and raised one of his eyebrows. ¡°Sorry, I got a little too excited,¡± He used his forefinger to gently scratch his cheek, ¡°Anyhow, if we spend our following sessions training you to use your Ingenium in the way you just did, I might need to call your martial arts instructor to join us as well or maybe I¡¯ll¡­.¡±He kept on mumbling to himself while Rey used a spell to remove all his sweat from his entire body. The process was quite fast; one moment all the sweat was still on his body, the next Hinoko saw a ball of stinky water floated in front of the boy. He gestured his familiar to come closer and use her fire breath to evaporate the water. The sudden flame disrupted Brendon¡¯s train of thought and watched as the water ball grew smaller and smaller until there was nothing left.

    ¡°Hey, Rey. I have an idea for your Ingenium, wanna hear it?¡± He asked as the boy summoned his dry shirt from his PDS and wore them. The boy nodded after he¡¯s done changing and Brendon continued, ¡°Maybe you could make your strips function ¡®wirelessly¡¯. For example, you make your strips crawl towards Point A, then you cut off the rest of your strips, leaving only a small part of it on Point A. Then, when an item you want to analyse drop onto Point A, you can remotely use the small strip to crawl all over the item and examined it.¡± He could see Rey¡¯s expression gradually turned from impassive to slightly surprise. What happened next was more surprising to him, because Rey¡¯s next move after hearing his explanation was tipping his head slightly and stroked his chin in deep thoughts.

    ¡°Hmm. I never thought of that,¡± he raised his head and looked into his teacher¡¯s eyes, ¡°Could this really work?¡±

    Brendon smiled confidently and enthusiastically, ¡°Well, that¡¯s the point of this subject! To learn something new about your powers other than improving it! I¡¯ll use my Ingenium in our next session to see if it is possible.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Rey¡¯s eyes glinted with elation. He has been wondering about what his teacher¡¯s Ingenium was. Every time he asked him, Brendon would tell him ¡®It¡¯s a secret¡¯ followed by a wink.

    ¡°Yep, as long as you can promise you would not disclose this to anyone under any circumstances unless I say okay~ After all, you¡¯re not the only that wants to keep this information to yourself.¡±

    ¡°Can you tell me how it would help me to know whether or not the ¡®wireless¡¯ strip idea will work?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a spoiler buddy. I can¡¯t tell you that! But, I will tell you it has a 100% success rate to figure out how every single element of your Ingenium work. Sounds pretty powerful right? This is why I have to keep the nature of my Ingenium a secret.¡±

    ¡°All right, it¡¯s time for you to go. My ¡®nother pupil is coming soon. See you in the next session.¡± ¡°Goodbye, Brendon.¡± Hinoko leaped onto her master¡¯s shoulder before Rey sauntered out of the room.

    As he was walking by a row of individual food stalls ran by students in one section of the Academy¡¯s cafeteria thinking what he should eat for lunch, he received a call from¡­.Alan? He was getting hungry, and he really don¡¯t want to bother himself by answering the video call. However, considering that it was the first time he himself contacted Rey after Rey had ¡®saved¡¯ him, he¡¯ll just have to suppress his annoyance and see what Alan has to say.

    ¡°Hello Alan.¡± ¡°Hello Rey.¡± His face looked like Rey just owed him one million Crowns. He opened his mouth to continue, but no words came out. Soonafter, he threw his arms into the air, turned his body away from the screen and shouted ¡®I can¡¯t do this!¡¯. The screen on the other side remained in the same position, Alan probably ¡®pinned¡¯ the screen in the air. Rey went to the nearest table and sat down on the chair beside it. Then, as Aster¡¯s head appeared on screen, Hinoko leaped onto the table.

    ¡°Howdy Rey! It seems...my plan failed. *Sigh He still got a long way to go.¡± Rey tapped a few icons on the table and a menu screen appeared, occupying the entire surface of the table. He decided to just let his familiar do the choosing.

    ¡°You two seem to be getting along.¡± Rey was quite amazed. He was supposed to be the one to correct Alan¡¯s ways. Instead, the Demi did his job for him. That¡¯s probably for the best.

    Hinoko had to amble around the table to see the food pictures covered by her body.

    ¡°Well, yeah, I guess so. Turns out the both of us have quite a lot in common. It¡¯s not like we hang out everyday though, maybe two or three days per week. You should¡¯ve seen the way he acted when Ada was around; it was as if she drew out a totally different personality from within him. All in all, he¡¯s doing great, except the part where ...¡± He directed the tips of his fingers at Rey horizontally and sighed.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll try to work on that. To be honest, I rather spend my free time relieving the stress built up throughout the entire week than talking to an angry man.¡±

    The fox swiped the screen on the table to go through yet another menu full of food.

    ¡°Which is why you should be glad that I, I mean Alan, called you,¡± He swirled to his back and shouted at the person in question, ¡°Alan! Get back here! Get back this instance or Ada will be giving you another--¡± Like a person on fire, Alan rushed back into Rey¡¯s vision. He sat back down, composed himself, shot the boy with a glance of irritation, and began to speak.

    The Kitsune was focusing hard to not let her drool dropped to the table when staring at those delicious food.

    ¡°Ehem. Reynard. Today--¡±

    ¡°Damn, Alan. You¡¯re as stiff as a rock. Are you telling me you can¡¯t do any better?¡± It was on purpose. He had a feeling it might make the older boy to convey his message faster.

    As expected, it didn¡¯t take a whole second before the rage inside Alan came bursting out.

    ¡°I was going to ask you nicely if you would come with me to the first screening of a recently completed short series animation project,¡± He raised up his fist and voice, ¡°BUT SINCE YOU¡¯RE ACTING LIKE AN ASSHOLE, I--¡±

    ¡°Alan. That¡¯s so nice of you.¡± He had to stifle the cringe and the laughter that came together with the sentence.

    Alan, now standing there like an idiot with a petrified expression, muttered the three words in shock, ¡°What, the hell?¡±

    Hinoko can¡¯t seem to decided they should eat a lasagna or a katsudon.

    ¡°You heard what I said. I really do think, from the bottom my heart, that it is nice of you to invite me. I¡¯ve always interested in animated shows. Would you please indulge me with the details of this event?¡± There¡¯s elements of truth and false wrapped inside that sentence. It was to enforce the positivity inside Alan, yes, but he was also really interested to go to the screening. He hadn¡¯t had the time to actually sit down and watch an animated show, so him going to the screening was essentially hitting two birds with one stone.

    The familiar decided she wants the Katsudon, but hesitated again when she compared the price.

    ¡°...uh...okay...¡± That suspicious look on Alan¡¯s face was priceless, ¡°The animation team, Krai4TheWoRLd, has undertook a request by the Academy¡¯s entertainment channel to create a short animation series that will be broadcast a month later. No details about the series has been revealed, but now they had finished the project, they planned to invite a small group of people to watch it and give them a review. It¡¯s on Sunday, and the screening begins at nine in the morning.¡±

    Finally, the fox made up her mind. She tapped Rey¡¯s hand on the table and used her paws to point at the lasagna picture.

    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s cool, but how did you get to invite me? Are you friends with the members of the animation team?¡± Rey slowly drop his act in a way that it would not rouse any more suspicion from Alan. He quickly gave Hinoko a thumbs up. This meant he approved her choice. The Kitsune gleefully tapped a few other icons and the order for two lasagnas was placed. Since his Circulum was already in contact with the table, it had straightforwardly deducted his Credits.

    ¡°HA! As IF! Krai4TheWorld is incredibly famous in the Academy for their tear-jerking masterpiece ¡®Lost in Existence¡¯. If I was their friend in any way, I wouldn¡¯t be spending six months with the Skulls. No, it was Ada that told me I could invite you.¡±

    ¡°Must be quite a surprise to find that out, eh?¡± Alan astonished slightly. He really should already view Rey¡¯s ¡®mind-reading ability¡¯ as normal now.

    ¡°What about Eli? Can you invite him too?¡± He kinda wanted to see his roommate¡¯s crying face. If this Krai4TheWorld animation team¡¯s latest project was anything like their best, Eli is definitely going to ride the feel train all the way to feel-topia.

    When the food arrived, she jumped to the other chair across the table and turned into her humanoid form. Seeing that her master was still talking, she used one of her unique spells to maintain the heat of the lasagnas.

    ¡°Yeah, sure, how about I invite your entire goddamn family too?¡± Rey raised his eyebrow with his signature grin. Alan rolled his eyes once more.

    ¡°Yes, he can come. I think. I need to ask Ada. I¡¯ll let you know later,¡±

    ¡°Oh, thank you Alan, you¡¯re so kind. Please, do accept my heartfelt gratitude.¡± The words came from from his mouth with the most sarcastic tone.

    ¡°Ew, that¡¯s just creepy. Just drop the act already.¡±

    ¡°Of course, my dear friend.¡±

    ¡°Stop it.¡±

    ¡°Fine. Where do we meet then?

    ¡±Ring 1, Section 1, Room 11-11. As a side note, remember to bring some snacks, because I¡¯m not planning to share mine with anyone.¡±

    ¡°Oh? I can¡¯t wait to try.¡± Alan gave him the finger and closed the call. When he looked at Hinoko, he saw her staring intensely at the lasagna; controlling herself not to take a bite before her master did. Rey tapped the table to get his familiar¡¯s attention. He did a ¡®Begin Eating¡¯ hand gesture, and immediately Hinoko cancelled the spell before she hungrily consumed her meal.

    ¡°Hellooo, Reeeeeeey!!! It¡¯s great to see you again!¡± Ada forcefully hugged the boy in joy and let him go, ¡°I haven¡¯t had the chance to properly thank you for getting Alan to leave the Skulls, so consider this as a present for doing me a huuge favor!¡± She paints a ray of sunshine all over her face.

    ¡°Ada, you¡¯re making a scene!¡± Alan whispered to her as he glanced at the other people who also came for the screening.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± She swirled her body towards the keypad and punched the numbers. The door opened, ¡°Come one, let¡¯s go in.¡± She beckoned them to follow with her hand.

    Alan was directly behind her while the trio was further back. As they also step into the bright room, Aster whispered to Rey, ¡°I bet Alan is so jealous with you right now.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t doubt that.¡± The boy replied in a small voice.

    The room was quite large. The middle section of the room has been occupied by 5 large rows of sofas, with each of the 10 seats separated by an individual armrest. There was a huge screen at the front and an isolated section at the back which seems to be a staff room. The entire interior of the room was in the colour of a paler human skin and the walls have delicate black patterns drawn on it. The atmosphere in there was very relaxing; Rey could already tell he was going to have a pleasant experience.

    ¡°Our seats are all in row 4, from 1 to 6. The 4th seat was taken by someone else, so the three of you have to decide who wants to be separated.¡± She said that while coiling her arm around Alan¡¯s. Although he looked sort of embarrassed, Rey could tell his heart was beating excitedly.

    ¡°The two of us will take the separated seats.¡± He wrapped his arm round Eli¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Okay, if that¡¯s the case¡­.¡± She released her arm from Alan¡¯s, activated her Circulum and sent the correct seat numbers on a verified ticket to the correct person.

    ¡°In a few more minutes, two or three members of the Krai4TheWoRLd would come out from that small room and begin checking everyone¡¯s ticket. They prefer to personally check if there are unwanted people here. It would be best if you guys would stick around me when that happen. They¡¯ll ask you how do you know of this screening and how do you get the ticket. So, if you stay by my side, they won¡¯t ask too much questions and we can start watching sooner. That said, there are still some time, so roam around the room if you want, maybe you¡¯ll see a familiar face. I¡¯ll be standing in this exact spot. This way, you guys won¡¯t have to waste your time finding me. Got it?¡± The trio nodded their heads in unison comically. When Alan tried to leave, Ada grabbed him and stared viciously at him, ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere. Some of our mutual friends are also present, so you¡¯re coming with me.¡± He frowned at first, but when he realised the reason why, he became annoyed, ¡°Is this because what happened yesterday? I told you, I didn¡¯t realise I ate your portion!¡±

    ¡°You can save your effort, Alan. I¡¯m not changing my mind.¡± She then lock his arm with her¡¯s and made a few gestures at a guy with butterfly wings to draw his attention. The trio took this as their cue to leave and went separate ways.

    Rey and Eli sauntered over to their seats to see who would be sitting beside them, if they were already on their seats. As they walked a little bit closer, pass the crowd congregate near the entrance, Rey saw someone he did not expect to be here sitting on the seat next to his. He quickened his steps and greeted the person from the end of the row.

    ¡°Emery.¡± The dwarf instinctively reacted to the origin of the voice by turning his head at a slow pace. This time, the toppings of the pizza picture on his shirt wasn¡¯t pepperoni, it¡¯s pineapple and mushroom.

    ¡°hello...Rey...¡± He waved his hand at the speed of a sloth, get up with the speed of a sloth, and ambled towards the grey-haired boy at the speed of a sloth.

    ¡°This is my roommate, Elliot. You can call him Eli.¡± He aimed the tips of all his five fingers at Eli as he said that, ¡°Eli, this is Emery, the tall dwarf I mentioned to you.¡± He used his other hand to do the same, except the direction this times was aimed at Emery.

    ¡°hello...Eli...it¡¯s nice¡­.to meet you¡­.¡± The dwarf greeted unenergetically.

    ¡°Nice to meet you too...Emery.¡± The shy boy was a bit weirded out by the stranger¡¯s odd speech pattern, but he kinda admire the stranger¡¯s looks.

    At his peripheral vision, Rey noticed a few people walking out from the room at the back. He signalled Eli and they both went towards Ada after he told Emery he would ¡®see you a moment¡¯.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    The group went through the checks in record time. Ada thought Rey¡¯s familiar was going to be a problem, so she tried to persuade the staff to let him keep her in the room. The staff was cool with it, so long she doesn¡¯t make any unnecessary noise. Rey promised she won¡¯t, the staff said they¡¯re good, and then the group made way to row four.

    Emery was already there, and so does the person with the seat that separates the group. Seems like it was a female elf, judging by the pointy ear. She tied her hair into a ponytail, had a pair of one-way glasses, and a casual t-shirt along with a pair of short pants. Her aura was familiar to Rey, but he couldn¡¯t quite recognize it.

    After everyone has been seated, the head of Krai4TheWoRLd animation team walked to the front and gave a small speech.

    ¡°Psst, Eli.¡± He looked at the girl beside him with a curious expression, wondering why she called him, or even know his name. Rey noticed Eli¡¯s action and also stared at her. She quickly lowered one side of her glasses while smiling, revealing her tightly-shut eyes and winked, then puts up her glasses again.

    ¡°Elizabeth--¡± She puts her finger in front of her mouth before Eli said her name out loud. Eli wanted to ask some more questions, but the head had finished speaking and the lights progressively gets dimmer and dimmer, until the room was in complete darkness.

    The first scene that was abruptly shown on a screen was a running tap. Suddenly, a pair of delicate hand appeared. It quickly splashed some water up onto the person¡¯s face once before it close the tap. As the person walked away from the camera and towards the exit, a young woman¡¯s back was shown.

    With the camera still aiming at her back, the audience could see her, in her casual clothing, wore a pair of sandals and sauntered out to the road in front of her house. The scene transitioned when she closed the sliding door.

    In the third scene, the camera was aiming perpendicularly at a countryside road. The background of the scene was a large green field with relatively short grasses and has absolutely no trees at all.It was the same road shown in the last scene because the young woman just now entered the scene, with one side of her face facing the audience. She was strolling along the road under the sun. However, her eyes focused on the tree at the closer-to-the-screen side of the road for a few seconds before she eventually aimed her head in front of her. When she almost reach ? of the road¡¯s length, a leaf dropped from the giant tree and covered the entire screen. When the leaf passed, the background changed drastically.

    The sky turned dark; multiple large machines could be seen fighting with each other in the grass field; androids and humanoids fought against each other on the road; and the tree was on fire. When the group of people on the left side of the battle was pushed to the middle of the road, a flaming leaf from the burning tree flew violently to the screen and covered it once more.

    This time, the sky was yellow, and the entire countryside were littered with destroyed dead people and destroyed things. Broken massive war machines tumbled onto the ground in the field; some were still mostly intact with smoke coming out while others were shattered into pieces. On the road, an android with only one leg was slowly advancing forward from the middle of the road with the help of a spear. It had to carefully traverse the path as there were many obstacles, and most of them were corpses. The giant tree survive, barely, but still living nonetheless as there were still a few leaves on its branch. One of them came down when the android almost reached the end of the road. The scene changed again.

    This time, the sun has yet to rise, and the land was radiating with blue. The field beyond the road was blanketed with green again, a bit too much green even as the grassed had became as tall as a humanoid child. The war machines on the field were also covered in green; there were even avian animals building nests on it. On the road, organic soldiers had long returned to the ground; only the mechanical ones remained, though some of their bodies seemed to be had salvaged by someone else. Near the end of the road was a woman staring at a young boy reluctantly stepping forward. Despite his efforts to annoy the woman by stopping and touching the weapons of the fallen soldiers, the woman still waited patiently. Eventually, he began walking without pause. At this moment, a gust of wind blew over the land, causing the now even gigantic tree¡¯s leaves to leave its branches. When one of the leaves quickly went pass the entire screen, the title finally appeared.

    ¡°You and Me¡±

    The O and the E were designed differently than the rest of the letters. The O was a gear with a organic heart(shape) in its core; the E was metallic, but it was covered in green vines. When the title eventually faded away, the two characters on screen had left the road and the scene changed. Rey¡¯s gut told him that this was going to be an emotional ride.

    The story was incredibly well-crafted. Even though there weren¡¯t many explanation about what exactly had happened in the past, there were a lot of clues hidden within the opening scene, the environment which the story took place, the interactions between background characters, and ultimately, the conversation between the main characters. The style of the animation was old school: they were hand drawn. Rey had to admit, the style really suits the dynamic of the story. Not only that, the music composed for this project was downright incredible; it could even compete with professionally orchestrated soundtracks.

    Although the audience had only finished the first episode, all of them would only use one word to describe this piece of work--¡¯Perfect¡¯.

    As they entered into the second episode, the audience could more or less grasped what the story was about.

    The story was about a female android protecting an elf boy that has a unique power to heal both mechanical and biological life alike, and that¡¯s about what they know so far. Other than that, the audience could tell the android was very kind to the boy but the boy doesn¡¯t seem to like her, or more accurately, he doesn¡¯t like a chaperone. The first episode chiefly acted as an introduction of the story, so it doesn¡¯t have much to show, yet it was still compelling.

    As the episodes goes on, more and more core characters were introduced, whether they were benevolent or malevolent. The central conflict arises, but not each obstacle the protagonists face were related to it, nor was it dangerous. Whenever the boy felt threatened, he would prompt the female android to attack them, even though he had healed many people throughout the previous episodes. Despite the boy¡¯s order, the woman would always try to persuade their enemies or use some other methods to resolve their problems peacefully without using her deadly weapons. In each episode, there will always be someone questioning philosophical question; sometimes the protagonist would use the answer to repel their enemies while others was left for the audience to guess.

    One of the best part of this series was that after each episode, when the end credits came, there would be random pictures in the background showing what had happened in the past; not only that, there would always be a song accompanying the credits. The songs were short, tranquilizing, and most importantly, absolutely beautiful. The lyrics would often based on what had happened in the episode through metaphors and foreshadows what might come next. The pictures were a great help in explaining the story¡¯s lore and a few character¡¯s past.

    When the Sun was at directly above the sky, they took a break and went for lunch. Before they left, however, the staff place a spell on everyone there. This spell would prevent anyone from talking about anything related to the series until the series have been broadcasted. Whoever have the spell on them would be able to talk about it with each other, but, if the spell detected someone was eavesdropping on their conversation about the series, their voices won¡¯t come out until they spoke of something else. Of course, even if they use other methods to talk about it, they won¡¯t succeed. Also, the staff told them they would start the next episode within half an hour.

    Alan wanted to escape and have lunch by himself, but was inevitably dragged away by Ada to try some ¡®exotic food¡¯. Eli wanted the three of them, plus Elizabeth, to savor their lunch together. Sadly, Rey had other plans.

    ¡°I need to talk about something with Emery and Aster. You should go ahead with Elizabeth; I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll appreciate your company.¡± Rey used a telepathy spell while they were exiting the room.

    ¡°What! Why? I want the four of us to eat together¡­. We probably won¡¯t have the chance like this anytime soon!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Eli, but this is important. I can¡¯t let you know what this is about yet, but I¡¯ll tell you when the time comes.¡± He then immediately cut off the telepathic bridge with Eli and connected his mind to the two non-humans.

    Eli¡¯s disappointment was clearly written on his face. He wanted this so much. Obviously, he respected Rey¡¯s wishes and make his heart promised himself not to complain about it; after all, this is the first time Rey ever requested him to stay away and it must be pretty important if he said it was important. At least he still have Elizabeth.

    When Eli was about to exit the room, he felt a large and smooth hand holding on to his from his right side. It was Elizabeth, of course. She saw his disappointment and the lack of Rey¡¯s presence beside him. She gestured him to stay silent. As soon as she pulled him out of the room, she transported them to a presetted location.

    It was a lightly decorated cafe on highest level in the mall section. It was incredibly small when compared to what normal people would expect. There were only two tables for four inside the shop itself and a bar, but there were many more across the lane where people walk on. She let goes of his hand and cheerfully greeted the shopkeeper.

    ¡°Afternoon, Jen.¡± She casually sat on the seat at the end of the bar, beside the entryway connecting the front and the back of the bar. She prompted Eli to sit beside her.

    ¡°Oh. Hey, Liz. What brings here you today?¡± Huh, Eli thought, so this is why Elizabeth came here. The shopkeeper knows her. He looked at the shopkeeper behind a bar. The shopkeeper, Jen, really gripped the boy¡¯s attention. She was a mermaid, and she wasn¡¯t using a seal ring. Her scaly lower body was submerged in water levitating in midair; not only that, the water was perfectly holding her up with the exact shape of her tail; the water was, at best, only a few centimeter thick. She was beautiful, and the way she tied the end of her t-shirt into a knot in front of her navel made her even more so. Eli was a little embarrassed as he could easily see the entirety of her tail if he move a bit more over the bar.

    ¡°I would tell you, but it¡¯s a secret.¡± She swiftly chose her meal by tapping the holographic icons on the wooden surface. The door beside the rather large shelf of...stuff Eli don¡¯t exactly know directly behind Jen began to have noises coming out from it. In the meantime, the shopkeeper turned towards the table with full of brewing equipment below the shelf (which the two was connected) and started making coffee.

    Eli wasn¡¯t sure what he wanted to eat, so he just randomly picked something he wouldn¡¯t mind shoving into his mouth.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, are you telling me your entire life is full of secrets?¡± She mocked. Eli was still embarrassed to see her tail naked even though it¡¯s completely normal.

    ¡°No, no. It¡¯s not related to work. I was invited to a screening, and I¡¯m not suppose to say anything related to it until it¡¯s broadcasted in the Entertainment Channel.¡± The shopkeeper was fast; she had already finished brewing a cup of coffee and served it to Elizabeth.

    ¡°I see. Was it good? Maybe I¡¯ll consider watching it when it comes out.¡± Elizabeth took a sip from the cup.

    ¡°Well, I guess it wasn¡¯t bad. My opinions shouldn¡¯t influence your decisions, you know?¡± Then, another sip.

    ¡°Whatever you say, Ms. Vice President,¡± Elizabeth chuckled. Her ordered food was completed and levitated from the kitchen and landed right in front of her.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name, boy?¡± She startled him a little. He turned his head a little and glanced at Elizabeth, hoping she would say something. Even with the acting classes, he¡¯s still terrible at talking with strangers.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to look at Liz, boy.¡± This made him even nervous.

    ¡°Go softer on him, Jen. He¡¯s really shy.¡± She then looked at him, ¡°It¡¯s okay, Eli. She won¡¯t bite. At least she hasn¡¯t for a long time.¡± She chuckled and continued eating.

    ¡°Ha ha, funny,¡± The words were uttered in a cold tone. She shifted it back to her normal tone as she talked to Eli again, ¡°So, your name¡¯s Eli, huh? That¡¯s a good name; it suits you perfectly.¡± Eli, as the easily flattered boy that he is, blushed slightly at the compliment.

    ¡°You¡¯re one of the boys that got chosen by Liz to go to the Wunderkind Banquet, right?¡± He nodded, ¡°I think I can understand why...¡± She said it with a mocking tone as she stared¡­sexually at Eli with a charming smile while laying her arms on the bar.

    Elizabeth instantly gulped down the food in her mouth and retorted, ¡°Jen, don¡¯t. I didn¡¯t chose him for whatever dirty reason you seem to be implying.¡±

    ¡°Relax, Liz. I¡¯m just joking.¡± She removed herself from the bar, straighten up her back, and smiled playfully at her friend. At the same time, Eli¡¯s food has arrived. He quickly began eating so he wouldn¡¯t have to face any more of the mermaid¡¯s teases.

    Jen kept on talking with Elizabeth even though she couldn¡¯t say a word because she was eating. The shopkeeper told her about what recent events had happened in her life and a few peculiar stories she picked up while working.

    When Elizabeth finished her meal but Eli hasn¡¯t, Jen asked her about Rey. Eli perked up his ears and focused on every one of her words.

    ¡°You really need to tell me about the other boy that you chose to bring to the Banquet. Damn Arthur came here some time ago and can¡¯t stop talking about his new found ¡®gem¡¯. I asked him to tell me the boy¡¯s name but he won¡¯t say anything because ¡®it¡¯s classified¡¯¡± Her attempt to mimic Arthur¡¯s way of speech made Elizabeth giggled.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you why Art has been obsessed with Reynard--he was pretty much exactly like a younger version of ¡®The Great President of The Analytical Mind¡¯.¡± This time, Elizabeth¡¯s imitation of Arthur made Jen burst out laughing; it even made Eli almost choke on his food. The imitation was purposely made terrible.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good one, Liz. Now that I know his name, I can force Art to tell me about this ¡®Reynard¡¯ kid. But, before he tell me what he thinks of the kid,¡± The mermaid lean her body at the bar, ¡°I want to hear what you think of him.¡± Eli slowed down his chewing speed and place his entire attention on Elizabeth.

    ¡°Well¡­I think he has a lot of potential. He might one day even surpass Arthur.¡± The mermaid frowned.

    ¡°No, no. That¡¯s not I want to know. I want to know what you think of him. What impression did he gave you; what kind of person do you think he is. Don¡¯t answer from your head; answer from your heart.¡±

    ¡°Why do you want to know about him so much?¡± She gave Jen a confused smile. This wasn¡¯t like her.

    ¡°Because Arthur hasn¡¯t been that excited when talking about someone since he met his Vice. And also, I have a gut feeling that tells me you find the boy to be more than just interesting. I might not have your eyes, but I¡¯m sure this kid is special.¡±

    ¡°......I don¡¯t think I can give you a clear answer, Jen. True, I do find him more than just interesting. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have the time to spend with him,¡± Her slow but sudden twist of her neck towards Eli caused him to astonish and quickly resumed eating. She gently touched his head for a few seconds, ¡°And his friend. I am the Vice President of the Student Council after all.¡± She looked back at Jen and waited for her reply.

    ¡°I would try to convince you again to take more time off, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re willing to lose to Damien,¡± She sighed and straighten her back again, ¡°Well, if you have the chance to spend more time with the kid, you better take it. I¡¯ll await your answer.¡±

    Eli finally finished his meal and the two went back to the screening room after saying goodbye to the mermaid shopkeeper.

    ¡°Why wasn¡¯t Rey with you?¡± They stepped through the door as she asked.

    ¡°He said he needed to talk to our senior guide and one of his...friends. He mentioned it was important.¡± There were back early, seeing that there were only 3 to 4 people already back in the room.

    ¡°I see. I understand your sadness. But, at least you can talk to me. Not many people have the chance to do that; they have to line up to even meet me.¡± Eli chuckled a bit.

    They spent the rest of the time waiting for the others to come back talking to each other. Eli did the most talking whilst Elizabeth just listened. Sometimes she would voice her opinion, but she remained silent other than that.

    Eventually, all of them came back and the screening continued without any delays. Rey didn¡¯t say anything when he returned to his seat, though Eli could see there was a subtle satisfaction on his face.

    The screening continued. As the story progresses, more and more of the two protagonists background surfaced. The female android might have acted kindly and loving towards the boy, but she had a hard time actually feeling emotions. As for the boy, some of his loved ones threw him away while others were taken, this explained why he refused to open up his delicate heart to the android; he was afraid he might have to go through the pain again.

    However, just when things were getting good between the two protagonists, one of their close friends were killed rather brutally. Their enemy has found their base and they were forced to leave. A feeling of desperation and sadness loomed over the survivors of the attack. Rey felt a strange aura emitting inside the room from this point onward. The aura was changing accordingly to the tone of the scenes. Maybe Rey was thinking too much, but he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that someone else, someone uninvited to this screening, was also with them.

    Due to the orders given to the android, she wanted to take the boy far away from their goal to guarantee his safety, but he refused. Despite his fear of death, he wanted to stay and help. A small fire of anger ignited within the android¡¯s metal heart. She thought it¡¯s because she couldn¡¯t complete her mission, but it was more than that. It was more than that.

    Then, as the story advanced slowly towards the end, more emotional interaction between the boy and the android appeared. Some were violent, but most enhances their relationship. The voice actors delivered the lines as if they were their characters, adding a whole ¡®nother level of realism to the story itself.

    Nearing the end of the story, they finally found a weakness in the enemy¡¯s base that would end the meaningless war they have been fighting for centuries. That was the moment where the leader of the organization fighting against the enemy revealed that she took in the boy and assigned him to the android was because he has the ability to achieve their goals.

    The side characters refused to believe that it was the only way, including the android, but the boy has set his heart a long time ago; if his death could spared anyone else from suffering, then it would be enough. Of course, the boy doesn¡¯t really want to die; he wanted to live a life without war, a life with the android peacefully. This was where the twist started.

    Usually, in this scenario, the boy would either blindly go sacrifice himself or someone else would sneak out and finish the job without the protagonist¡¯s agreement. But none of that happened. The boy knew this is a war, and both sides would always claim that they are right, so he decided to formulate a plan that would minimize the casualties, even if they were enemies.

    Since the boy had been using his powers to heal both enemies and allies, he had gained many followers that wanted the same thing as he did. Without the leader of both factions noticing, the boy executed his plan.

    Before they move out, the boy wanted the android to make a promise with him. He wanted her to also swear the both of them would come back alive and live a life they deserve. It was a powerful scene; not merely because the two protagonists has overcome their obstacle to love each other, but because the audience know for sure one of them would not return. Rey¡¯s heart trembled a bit when the boy and the android made their promise.

    The infiltration sequence of the the base was amazing. There weren¡¯t any ridiculous moments like people successfully dodge an entire firefight; in fact, a lot of them died, some were even significant side characters, in a sort of anticlimactic way. The sequence felt incredibly realistic and heart-gripping.

    However, when what¡¯s remained of his group reached their destination, he found out the truth. The war was setup. There were never a real reason for all the factions including the two main ones to fight, or rather, the reason for them to fight was no longer relevant; it hasn¡¯t been relevant for centuries. They simply fought because it was become the way of life on this part of the planet. They didn¡¯t know what else they could do if they don¡¯t fight.

    The boy was furious. So many innocent lives lost; so many tragedies took place just because no one knew how to stop.

    When the boy eventually broken down and had no idea what to do next, the android took his place. Even though ending the war means she might not be able to stay with him any longer, she wanted him to be happy. She searched through the database and found the ¡®Core¡¯; by destroying this ¡®Core¡¯, no one would have the ability to extend this war any longer.

    At the height of the finale, the two of them teleported to the ¡®Core¡¯ at the planet¡¯s moon. The structure of the ¡®Core¡¯ was small, hence they were able to find the main control panel and attempted to shut the machine down. Unfortunately, the boy couldn¡¯t do anything to terminate the ¡®Core¡¯; his powers were to heal, and his knowledge for machines was useless before the technologically superior ¡®Core¡¯.

    Then, it was revealed that the prototype for the leaders of both main faction were kept in the ¡®Core¡¯ to serve as security. They awoke and began attacking the protagonists. They had no time nor resources to defeat the ¡®Core¡¯. This is when the tear-jerking part comes.

    The android managed to stun the prototypes and took the boy to the escape pod. Before the boy could even protest, the android threw him into the pod and slumped down against the pod¡¯s exterior door as she activated her self-destruct switch. It would be enough to destroy the ¡®Core¡¯ once and for all.

    During the short time period before the boy¡¯s pod return to his planet, he had his last conversation with his guardian. Unlike what the audience had expected, which was the boy shouting and crying, begging her not to do this, the both of them talked about their time together in a calming but extraordinary melancholic way.

    Both of them had their tears flowing like a river.

    Both of them told each other about their embarrassing times.

    Both of them mentioned their promise to each other.

    Both of them spoke of what would await them if they had the chance to escape this place together.

    Both of them, at the last second, bid their final farewell to each other.

    They closed their eyes, and welcomed what would come next.

    The next sequence had no other sound but a sorrowful and touching music.

    The android exploded, taking down the ¡®Core¡¯ with her.

    The boy¡¯s pod safely returned to the surface and declared the war is finally over.

    The leaders of the factions that wish to continue the war has lost their source of power to carry on the will of a long gone past.

    The era of peace had finally arrived.

    The final sequence, accompanied with an innocent music box soundtrack, showed the state of the world after the war had ended.

    The cities had began rebuilding; people from different sides of the war were finally able to coexist with each other; characters which bear some amount of significance moved on with their lives and fulfilling their dreams.

    Eventually, the back of a grown up version of the boy were shown standing in front of the statue of the android he loved under the familiar big tree.

    Then, out of nowhere, a few kids of different races ran towards him and complained to him childishly that he stared at the statue for too long again. He patiently calm the children down and walked back to the house with them. He stopped after a few steps, turned his head back at the statue one last time before heading back while revealing his matured face.

    The protagonist slowly brought out his camera and snapped a picture of the backs of his children. The scene then transitioned into other bunch of pictures scattered on what seem to be a table. The end credits rolled and a song sang by all the major characters were played.

    The series ended by showing a picture frame with the young boy and the female android on the table accompanied by the last verse sang by the both of them.

    Needless to say, the final episode almost had all of the audience crying. Almost.

    Rey¡¯s tears almost fell when the boy on the screen said ¡°But I couldn¡¯t keep our promise.¡± That line felt so close to his heart. It reminded so much about the past he wished he could change. This was exactly why he hold back his tears; he feared that if he gave into the sadness, he would go back to the time where he was weak.

    That said, the aura in the room had increase in intensity so much so that even Emery had began noticing something was amiss. It wasn¡¯t unpleasant; as a matter of fact, it enhances the feeling of the audience after watching the ending, but they could feel it coming from somewhere, or someone else.

    As the staff walked out to the front, that aura suddenly vanished. Rey noticed Elizabeth was also trying to find the source of that aura, but since it has disappeared and the leader of Krai4TheWoRLd began speaking, she temporarily ignored what had happened.

    Halfway through the leader¡¯s speech, a blinding white light enveloped the room.