“I still can’t believe I’m here. Do you even know we are, Zeke?”
“Either a dimension separate from our reality or a creation of the System. It doesn’t matter where we are… it’s safe.”
“Huh! Tell that to the dead Chimera outside.”
Zeke rolled his eyes and walked away from the talkative Sulong.
Although Signora’s revelations were surprising, Zeke didn’t have the means to investigate more. There might be useful information in Erys’ library, but the upper floors were restricted to teachers and Fourth-year Students. There was even a so-called ‘super-secret’ floor that contained ancient Aether-related techniques, records about Alchemy, and historical documents that preceded the Earthling’s arrival to this planet.
However, that floor was only accessible by the Principal and a handful of other individuals.
[PE Shop available for use.]
[List of items:
Aether Recovery Elixir: 20 PE
Aether Sensitivity Elixir: 20 PE (one-time use)
Black Fang Revolver (2nd-grade Artifact): 30 PE
Ventus Sword (2nd-grade Artifact): 35 PE
Black Steel Hannish Vest (1nd-grade Artifact): 40 PE
Rah’loa Thorns (3rd-grade Material): 50 PE (2Kg)
Sky Bloom (2nd-grade Spiritual Artifact): 55 PE
Skill Book (Metal Skin): 60 PE
.
.
.
Skill Point Scroll : 1000 PE
Elemental Spirit Scroll (One-time use): 1500 PE
.
.
Night Spear (4th-grade Artifact): 2500 PE
Blade of Dawn (4th-grade Artifact): 2700 PE
.
.
.
Main-path Book (Night Incarnate): 5000 PE
Main-path Book (Wisdom Holder): 5000 PE
Main-path Book (Ultimate Warrior): 5000 PE
Main-path Book (Creation and Erasure): 15000 PE
.
.
.
System-upgrade (????): 1000000 PE]
There were easily hundreds, if not thousands of available items in the PE shop. The most expensive thing was the System-upgrade, which required a ridiculously exorbitant amount of PE.
Zeke was more interested in the available main paths, but saving up 5000 PE would take a long time and wouldn’t be worth the effort now.
For now, he had his eyes on the Aether Sensitivity Elixir and the Black Steel Hannish Vest. Admittedly, a weapon would facilitate fighting, but Zeke was no expert in wielding weapons, so going after a special artifact now might be the wrong decision.
He had 69 PE in his possession, which was a considerable amount. Still, he didn’t feel regret when he spent almost all of it in just a couple of breaths.
The space around him distorted and a thin black vest along with a hand-sized vial hovered in front of him.
“Wow!”
Signora and Sulong approached him, both surprised to see things appear out of thin air.
“It can even do this?”
“It’s not for free.” Commented Zeke as he examined the Black Steel Hannish Vest. It was not overly big, covering only the torso and the shoulders, but it was thin enough to hide under the school uniform or other clothes.
As for the Aether Sensitivity Elixir, although it lacked any description, Zeke suspected that it might help with controlling Aether.
One of his objectives right now was to keep ‘Aether Control’ active while simultaneously using other skills. That way, he would be recovering any consumed Aether and fight for a longer period of time without having to worry about dizziness or mental exhaustion due to over-exerting himself.
For instance, when he jumped into the fight between Arbert and that assassin, Zeke had already been fatigued yet he pushed himself to the limits. He had been successful in greatly empowering himself by making use of the Voltage Circuit implemented across his body, but the backlash was something he liked to avoid.
“Alright, we’re done here. I’ll come to you in a couple of days.”
“Wait wait!”
Before Zeke could teleport everyone out of the mausoleum, Sulong raised his hand and grinned.
“I just deal with Stephan Dontoryian.”
“Dontoryian? You mean Rodrick’s father?”
Sulong nodded his head, looking particularly proud.
“He tried to kidnap me to get to you, apparently. Must’ve been vengeful after what happened to his son, eh? Anyway, I dealt with him and his goons. Furthermore, I offered his secretary to join us if he could bring a bit of money or artifact before the other underworld gang bosses start salivating over the empty seat of the city’s northern sector.”
“Oh…”
Zeke chuckled and raised a thumbs-up to Sulong. Ever since he was taken by his father, Zeke had completely forgotten about Rodrick. He didn’t think Stephan would try to kidnap Erys students using such a blatant and foolish method.
“With you being busy at school, I thought it unnecessary to call you.”
“You were right, I guess. You don’t need to consult me for everything, Sulong. We’re in this together.”
“Right right!” Embarrassed, Sulong slapped Zeke’s back a couple of times while taunting the expression Signora.
When Zeke came to his senses and woke up, he saw the vest and the elixir resting on his body. After glancing at his soundly sleeping roommates, he swiftly put the vest on before eagerly opening the vial.
The vest felt more comfortable than he had expected; It wrapped around his skin and magically synchronized with his Life Aether, causing it to vibrate momentarily.
“Now then…”
After taking a deep breath, Zeke poured the contents of the vial into his mouth and sat on his bed, waiting for a reaction.
Seconds after consumption, Zeke felt a heat surge from his chest and then spread to all corners of his body. He closed his eyes and concentrated, channeling his Aether to match to heat.
It lasted for close to a minute before his body returned to normal, but Zeke felt a qualitative change in his perception. Even with ‘Aether Control’ not active, he could subtly feel the Ambient Aether floating around aimlessly.
He could not see the tiny green particles, but he still felt pleased with his purchase. It wasn’t the right place to conduct some tests, so he laid on the bed and rejoiced about this advancement until he fell asleep again.
…
Wednesday have arrived and all the students were engrossed in their studies and training. Even Zeke had to focus and remove any distractions.
Although he wanted to tail Beatrice more, he decided against it for the time being. He had been caught by Rebecca, and if Signora was telling the truth, then the four spies hiding Erys must already know that he was after them.
Therefore, Zeke spent all day revising in the library before doing his Daily Tasks in the small forest and then training some more in the available facilities.
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It was a quiet and peaceful day for him, utterly devoid of any unexpected complications.
Azmer Lorson, on the other hand, experienced a totally different 24 hours.
When the night fell and the sky darkened, instead of going to train under the Dean’s tutelage, he accompanied a new ‘friend’ of his to a secret hideout.
Veronica Serpents, previously known as the 5th Defect, changed into the appropriate outfit for the meeting while Azmer was warily following her.
After deliberating for a while, the blond and gloomy youth had agreed to join the Ivory Oak Order.
Of course, with the limited resources at his disposal, he had a decent job investigating the secret organization known as the Ivory Oak Order.
He didn’t want to get involved with mass-murdering lunatics, which was why he didn’t immediately agree to Veronica’s offer.
Fortunately, he soon learnt that this secret organization was different from the rest. Just the fact that Principal Solas agreed to let Veronica stay in Erys despite knowing her identity had made Azmer relieved about his decision.
Today was his first day meeting the other members of their small team. The Ivory Oak Order was divided into several teams that operated under a high-ranking individual, and the group he was in was no different.
“This balding man is Bibi. This is Maxwell Lepard, the troublemaker behind the dormitory incident. The silent one trying to look cool is Xiao, and the grouchy and grumpy one here is our leader, Frederic.”
Veronica nonchalantly introduced her colleagues to the cautious Azmer. He was wearing the signature white robe of the Ivory Oak Order, but he still didn’t feel welcomed after being subjected to their inquisitive and piercing gazes.
“I’m Azmer.”
“Yeah! We know about you. You had a fight with your father, yes?”
Maxwell Lepard, the lively and talkative one of the bunch, shook hands with Azmer while inquiring with a grin.
“How is that of any importance?” Retorted Azmer with a frown.
“Ah, it’s not. I was curious, is all.”
“Enough with the pointless questions.” Interrupted the stern-looking Frederic.
He was a middle-aged man with a triangular face, a relatively big nose, a pair of brown eyes, and greasy long hair pushed to the back.
“Veronica had praised you to no end and recommended you to us. I hope she made the right decision.” Said Frederic as he shook hands with Azmer before jumping to the main topic,
“We’ve been laying low for only a short while, but I’ve received a mission from the messenger.”
“Finally!” Exclaimed Maxwell as he excitedly clapped his hands.
“We are to intercept a shipment transported from the neighboring city to the Sunken Metropolis. Expect heavy security and a lot of resistance. The target in question is a cylindric object stored at the back of the main van, which shouldn’t be difficult to pinpoint.”
“Wait, a shipment? Then we’re messing with the Department of Defense?”
Seeing Azmer getting riled up so easily, Veronica tapped his back and shook her head,
“Don’t be deluded by the media and what you heard. The Department of Defense isn’t as good as all make it seem.”
“Hah!” Bibi spat on the ground and grudgingly added, “Those pieces of shit are the worst. You have no idea the shit they’re up to on a daily basis. Illegal human experiments, colluding with terrorists, and so on…”
Azmer didn’t how to respond to their comments, he just lowered his head and opted for silence.
“Our goal is to intercept and take the shipment. We will meet all kinds of resistance, but it would be wise to incapacitate rather than kill. We already have a target on our backs, remember that.”
Frederic swept his cold gaze across all of them before focusing on Maxwell, “I’m talking to you, Lepard. No funny business or else you’re out.”
“I know I know! Jeez, you’re always treating me like a kid.”
“Because you act like one!” Rebuked Frederic while sighing in exasperation.
…
As they hid on both sides of the asphalt road cutting the huge forest in two, Veronica reassured the nervous Azmer.
“You can stay at the back if you want. We might fail, but we always manage to escape.”
“They’re here.” Muttered the non-talkative Xiao as he held a dark green spear and crouched down.
Seconds later, the sound of approaching vehicles could be heard amidst the eerie silence.
The first one to act was Veronica, who extended both hands and conjured dozens of tiny snakes that crawled on the asphalt.
The wheels of the passing vehicles were bit by the snakes, which made them either crash to the side or come to a screeching halt.
Azmer, who wasn’t used to hearing the gunshots, was momentarily shocked and couldn’t react.
He saw how Xiao and Frederic jumped forth, the former sweeping with his spear and sending at least five agents flying, and the latter holding a massive broadsword and unleashing a deafening shock wave.
Things got intense quickly as bullets flew everywhere, some piercing the ground and trees and others getting deflected by strange and rapid defensive orbs conjured by Bibi.
“Protect the shipment!”
Shouted an ability-user as he confronted Frederic.
The leader of Azmer’s small team leapt in the air and swung down his weapon, easily overpowering the agent and crushing his shallow translucent barrier into pieces.
As he had said before, Frederic did not kill everyone. When he was upon the enemy, he momentarily discarded his sword and punched the man’s face, knocking him unconscious with ease.
In less than a minute, Frederic reached the huge black van and smashed its back doors open. Xiao was right behind him, deflecting any incoming agents and using his spear to release flashing lights that blocked all projectiles.
Meanwhile, Veronica was controlling her snakes to bite down the opponents and paralyze them.
Only Azmer remained in the same spot, stricken with shock and fear. He had mentally prepared himself, and though he was by no means an easily-scared individual, he still couldn’t sober up and do his job.
Only when he felt a cold chill coming from his back did the blond youth regain his senses and roll to the side, barely evading a dangerous silver glint.
A slim female agent covering the lower part of her face rushed at Azmer, bashing her electric baton at him with a monstrous force.
In retaliation, Azmer raised both hands and unleashed a burst of flames that forced the agent to retreat and circle around.
A distance away, Frederic looked at the shipment in disbelief.
“What the fuck?”
As the messenger had said, it was indeed a cylindric and transparent object. However, what was shocking was the person stuck inside.
Much to his surprise, the agent added the voltage on her baton and swept her hand, extinguishing Azmer’s flames before charging at him again.
This time, she was attacked by a moving wall of light, which made her stagger and grunt in pain.
“Get a hold of yourself!” Shouted Maxwell as retracted his wall just in time to defend against another agent. Alas, he didn’t notice another enemy that appeared out of thin air and pierced his back with a long blade.
“I’m fine!” Shouted Maxwell again as he puked blood and then mumbled an incantation which made several shiny white translucent shields to appeared around him.
The wound on his back was healing at an insane speed, but the shields around him were relatively weak as they were shattered by the bombardment of the agents.
Meanwhile, Azmer controlled his trembling hands and shot multiple fireballs, which incapacitated those troubling Maxwell but missed the nimble baton-wielding agent.
When the golden flaming sword appeared in his hand, Azmer gritted his teeth and invoked more flames, which burned the trees and the ground around him.
Unfortunately, the female agent suddenly turned blurry as her figure appeared on his flank, and with a swift and decisive movement, she struck him with the baton.
Whether it was his sword or flames, they all disappeared as Azmer was electrocuted for five full seconds.
Feeling intense pain, he tried to call for help but ended up falling unconscious.
The female agent raised her head and looked at the road, but the only people standing were Azmer’s comrades. She snorted and carried his body before retreating to the back along with the two agents attacking Maxwell.
They didn’t have the manpower to resist, so the best alternative was to take a captive with them.
…
“What are we supposed to do with this? Ugh! It hurts!”
Maxwell was poking his rapidly-healing wounds while examining the human trapped in the two-meter-long cylindric container.
The container was filled with water, but there was also a very young girl trapped inside, curled into a fetus position.
“I’ll go call the messenger.”
“What?” Veronica stopped Frederic and gave him a dangerous glare.
“What about Azmer?”
“What about him?” Questioned Frederic with a furrowed brow.
“They took him! Are you really going to act as if nothing happened?”
“I told you he wasn’t ready, Veronica. He didn’t fit in with us.” Coldly retorted Frederic, seemingly uninterested in retrieving Azmer.
“Bullshit! I fucking dare you to call the messenger, Fred. Just because he just joined us, you’re ready to abandon him?”
“For a moment who preaches about camaraderie at every chance he got, I also find this… odd.” Chirped Bibi while massaging his sore arms. Seeing Frederic glare at him, Bibi shrugged and added,
“Look, we’re a team. Even if he’s just a newbie, I don’t think it’s right to abandon him. That’s not who we are.”
“He got what’s coming to him. We can’t barge into their Headquarters and take him back.” Sneered Maxwell, clearly agreeing with the leader.
After a short bout of silence, Xiao, who was wont to keep his counsel, said, “An exchange. We give them the shipment.”
“What? Are you insane?! Look at this!” Maxwell pointed at the girl, “She’s clearly a valuable experiment of some sort. And you’re proposing an exchange? The best we can do now is hide here because they’ll be looking everywhere for us. Everywhere. They’ll get to us before we can say anything, much less prepare an ‘exchange’.”
“If you’re ready to abandon Azmer, then you’ll be ready to abandon us in the future, Fred. You call the messenger and I’m out of this team. Are we clear?”
Frederic looked at the phone in his hand before letting out an annoyed grunt then lowering his arm.
“He better be worth it.”
“He’s inexperienced, but he’s strong and trustworthy. Isn’t that what we need?”
Veronica snorted and walked away only for Maxwell to stop her,
“Where are you going? We need to hide here.”
“What do you think, smartass? I’m going to try and get help.”
She pushed him aside and exited the hideout, leaving them all either confused or surprised.
…
Veronica Serpens stealthily returned to Erys, which was just as safe as the hideout. However, she was deliberating over her limited choices.
For the course of the last three weeks, she had gotten a bit close to Azmer. His grumpiness notwithstanding, he was a hard-working and honest person.
By interacting with him on a daily basis, he was slowly able to open up, so she learnt of his circumstances and how he left his family.
When she offered him a position on her team, she was already confident in her decision. He was talented and ready to make sacrifices to improve himself and achieve the ultimate success, which was no different from Veronica’s objective.
Put simply, Veronica saw herself in him, which was why she wasn’t ready to give up on him yet, even with his apparent shortcomings.
Azmer Lorson was a prideful person, one who wouldn’t easily call for help. Nevertheless, his defeat against Zeke had humbled him and corrected his corrupted character bit by a bit.
‘He’s improving and becoming a better person. It’s too late for this to end.’
While pacing around the campus, Veronica was biting her lips and wracking her brain for a solution. She could ask for the Principal’s help, but there was a high probability he wouldn’t oblige.
Even though Solas all of his students, Azmer was in the custody of the Department of Defense. Considering the Principal’s sour relationship with the government, it would take no small amounts of favors to retrieve Azmer.
Then again, Veronica and her team had openly attacked special agents of the Department of Defense and stole a secret shipment, which made the whole situation more complicated.
After spending a couple of hours walking around in the middle of the night, Veronica resorted to the only available course.
She snuck into the First-year Dormitory, specifically Azmer’s room. There, she glanced at the sleeping Samuel and Alan before focusing on Zeke Orland.
She leaned closer and poked him a couple of times, but when he woke up, his hand slid to her throat before smashing her body on the ground.
The loud thud woke up the other two students.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
“...”
Alan covered his mouth and used the blanket as protection while Samuel jumped to his feet and stared at the girl.
“Who are you?”
Veronica, who was being suffocated, waved her hand in surrender but Zeke didn’t let go of her.
He had felt her poking but pretended to be asleep for a couple of seconds to prepare himself. He subdued her with ease, though that was due to her non-resistance.
“I’ve seen her! She’s Veronica Serpens.”
“What?”
Zeke tentatively let go of her but he remained highly vigilant.
While caressing her neck and gasping for breath, Veronica looked at her cold stare of Zeke. She collected her thoughts before hesitantly saying,
“I need your help.”
“Help?”
Before she responded, she glanced at Samuel and Alan, whom she didn’t want to involve. Noticing this, Zeke nodded and signaled for her to leave.
“Fine. Let’s talk outside.”
“I can help to-”
Samuel wanted to join in but Zeke stopped him while solemnly shaking his head. With a helpless sigh, the youth sat back on his bed and mumbled inaudible words.
“No one can hear here. You can talk now.”
Zeke had already heard of the 5th Defect, Veronica Serpens. She had returned right after he left the city, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t suspicious of her.
Just like him, she obtained powers and quickly rose through the ranks, making him one of the two black horses along with Fylard.