I was heaving against the wall. Both trying to catch my breath and regaining my wits.

Oh — I desperately gasped for air — That was too close.

“Hey brat, why were you so convinced I wouldn’t kill you?” He closed the window in one swift motion, and walked to me, twirling an inexistent mustache.

“Who said I was?” I countered.

“Stop with the bunkum before I actually do it.”

“Impatient jerk…” I muttered.

“Uh?” he stopped the twirling, channeling mana into his left hand.

“I-I just figured…”

As I started speaking, his rousing mana went to sleep.

“I just figured that you were not the one in charge here.”

“Huh?” He replied, this time flabbergasted.

Yeah, something had seemed off since the start. Starting with the mana reserves. The mana reserves from the man of that day were much bigger than this. It wasn’t unlikely that something had caused problems with his core, but that along with the weirdly inconsistent way in which he spoke, and his undignified attitude.

There was no way he was the man I had seen that day.

I didn’t know who he was, but he couldn’t be the leader.

“Kid?”

Oh yes.

“The way you spoke tipped you off.”

“The way I spoke…”

“Yes, you kept switching from fancy prose to more casual talk, as if ...”

I looked at him, finally somewhat recovered from the shock. “… you were playing a role you were not used to.'“

“Uh..? Uh — Uh!?” he approached me and crouched in front of me, as if he hadn't heard me from where he stood, his gaze anchored to the ground.

“Really? Damn it…” He had the demeanor of a kid caught stealing candy — with the words of a potty-mouthed adult.

“You got me there, little runt.” he lifted his eyes toward me.

He removed the mask and the wig. “Well, I’ll be damned. The name’s Franky, humble student of the great Albert, and I suppose there’s no point continuing that masquerade.”

He said, putting emphasis on the last word, prompting me to repeat it.

“Masque- aaaaaah… I hate you.”

He chuckled, clearly proud of his own joke, and walked with a renewed enthusiasm towards his bench, leaving the wig and the mask on the ground.

Getting a new look at him, his eyes were like almonds and there were strong creases around his mouth despite his younger age — giving him a genial look — clearly, he smiled often.

After he calmed down, and more importantly, after I sat back on my own bench, I asked him.

“Why did you do that?”

“Hmmm, oh that? Maybe he’ll tell you the details himself.”

#

As we arrived at the Flyers station, the lanky man — Franky — opened the door and exited the carriage, telling me to wait inside.

Soon enough, two new men entered the carriage: a man with a half mask, and whose mana reserves told me he was the genuine thing, as well as a stumpy old man walking head plunged into his book.

The masked man sat down and looked at me like a specimen to dissect, a bone-chilling smile plastered on his face; the other didn’t even spare me a look. His eyes focused on the book he was reading.

“Hey brat,” Franky said, as he closed the door.

“Salute Master Albert, and the knowledgeable Hagrid.”

“Why should I?” I blurted out.

But Franky stared at me, his eyes stern, heavily contrasting the radiant smile he had earlier, which compelled me to oblige.

“I got it, I got it. Don’t look at me like that,” I said as I turned my head toward the duo.

“Mister Albert, mister Hagrid,” I said as I did my best evgemos — a nobleman bow.

It had been a while since I had had to use that, but these kinds of manners had been drilled down to my marrow.

The stumpy man with a voice as low as its stature, said his head still inside the book, “Venerable Albert, why do we have to go along with that farce, did we really have to go that far to get just one subject?”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

It was customary to wait for a signal of an elder to rise from a bow, or between equals to wait for them to bow too; but they totally ignored me.

"Uh… I am waiting?" I thought as strongly as possible — hoping this way they might perceive the thought waves I was emitting.

Nothing.

Well, too bad.

I stood up from my bow and sat back.

Hagrid peeked from above his book, with a look of disapproval, and said “Plus, he doesn’t even have the bare minimum of manners.”

“Hey the foggy,” I snapped,” did you expect me to bow until tomorrow evening?”

He winced as if the words had cut him and retreated behind his book.

The half-masked man opened his mouth, “That is not necessarily a bad thing.”

Me and Hagrid said in unison “Uh?”

“He’ll need to be at least this feisty to survive what will happen to him, and I’d be quite enthused to see how a true broken vessel reacts to our experiments.”

“True broken vessel? Could you not call me that...”

“Why? Isn’t it factually accurate?” Albert said as he looked at me, still smiling.

“I have a na—” Well, not quite.

“Call me Helmet instead.”

“Helmet, uh," Albert replied, "really original,”

“Well, I don’t mind, not that it will matter.”

“Uh?”

He didn’t expand on that.

After saying that, Albert looked at the coacher and sent him a signal.

That done, we went on our way.

[…]

“So what was up with that act?” I asked, curious.

“An act?” Albert said, as he looked at Franky.

“Oh, that... well, no real reason.”

“Uh?”

I looked at Franky confused, who looked back as confused as I was.

“Really?” I asked.

He didn’t answer.

Franky whispered, “Yeah, that’s master, you never know what goes on in his head...”

“I guess geniuses just think differently,” he added.

I looked at Albert, curious.

After the initial confusion had vanished, I realized something that made my heart drop.

Wait, didn’t I just forget something really important?

[…]

After some time passed, Albert started speaking.

“So this youth is the one Nathanael sent us —”

“This is not decided yet,” I said, ticked off by the mere mention of his name. “Don’t take my participation in this dumb project for granted.”

“Hahaha, considering the opportunity that is being given to you and the place you’re currently sitting, you still have the gall to say that.”

“Yes, and?” I said, my voice as steady as I could make it.

“Hey, Franky,” — He said, turning his gaze towards his student — “wasn’t that kid supposed to be smart?” He asked as if puzzled, the smile not leaving his face.

“As you know, your more-than-underwhelming ability is something unheard of. Broken cores are one thing, but having no ability to gather and retain mana is a whole other matter. So shouldn’t such an opportunity be a godsend to you?”

“Yes, and?” I said, this time anger seeping into my voice, accentuating the last word. “I don’t need your pity.”

“Oh, that’s what you’re doing?” His smile darkened a bit.

“Hmm, Franky, I am somewhat disappointed — even if feistiness is a good thing — this is outright disrespect.” He paused and shook his head in a disapproving manner.

Franky stood up and bowed, "I apolo--"

“No no no, that can’t do… No matter how rare, a dog can’t bite its owner.” He said as if he was playing, his gaze on Franky.

“Hey!” I interjected, disliking the way he spoke about me.

“Shut it,” Albert replied in a dry tone, placating me in my seat immediately.

There wasn’t even a hint of mana in his words, but I couldn’t help but listen.

"Sit," he ordered Franky, who sat down in silence.

As I was left in a daze, Franky said while bowing his head, “Your humble student has failed you. Most humble apologies.”

“Humph…. Well, we’ll talk about this later.” Albert said, now looking at me. As he did, my sense of unease increased as I felt a disconnect between his relaxed tone and his acerbic behavior.

Soon, the world around me disappeared, and an ominous cloud of red besieged me. His devilish mask staring into my naked eye; my helmet, gone.

“So that’s what you look like,” a voice sounding like Albert’s reverberated as if he was everywhere at once.

“W-w-what is this?” I said, as I forced myself to regain my wits. An illusion? Galvrungs could do that?

He ignored my question, instead saying, “Will you look at that, the spitting image of Nathanael.”

“Hey shut it,” I said through clenched teeth, “don’t compare me to him!”

I stood there, trembling. Where the hell was I? When had I even stood up?

“Oh, oh oh… well, I like your spirit. I’ll give you that.”

“Still…”

“Kneel.”

As he said that, a pressure surpassing any I had encountered before crushed me down, and I was brought crashing towards the similarly hazy and vaporous ground.

I was forced to prostrate — my forehead touching the ground.

“Good. Good. That’s the posture one like you should have when talking to me.”

The voice paused as if reveling in the prostration it had forced upon me.

“Franky has already explained the big picture to you? Right?”

His tone implied he expected an answer, but I couldn’t even lift my head to reply to him.

What — What the hell? Since when could Galvrungs do that? So that time too — that illusion — it was really him?

He sighed.

“Listen here brat.”

“Just in case something has not been made clear, you have two options.”

“I don’t care what you want, and I don’t care about your pathetic life. I need a lab rat, and you need strength. Surely the choice is obvious, right?”

“But I am not a forceful man. If you dislike that, you can always die here.”

What the hell was he talking about? If he wanted to kill me, couldn’t he get done with it?

“Hmmm poor you.. Trust me, I can really imagine what you’re going through, abandoned by your family, forced to live as someone else while hiding your face, feeling hopeless… Truly a heart-wrenching story.”

“Sadly for you, I lack things like a heart... It’d truly save me a lot of trouble if you just died…”

As he said that, he released the pressure slightly, prompting me to speak. I couldn’t quite raise from my prostration, but I could at least look at him — look at the mask.

“Hey, foggy #2.” More out of pride than any genuine conviction, “I know Franky is your student and all, but this gag is getting old.”

“You wouldn’t have ridden all the way here just to kill me,” — I paused to catch my breath, sweat trickling down my cheeks — “so what the hell is your actual goal?”

It looked at me, contorting in a way that could be interpreted as amusement.

“You think quick. Well, truly it’d be better for me if you died, but I have curiosity as a scientist too. Such tremendous screw-ups of nature are rare, you know?”

“Fuck you,” I said, my teeth gnashing. That was another thing I had learned during these past five years.

“No-no don’t take it like that.” he chuckled a laugh similar to Franky’s, or maybe it would be more accurate to say Franky’s was similar to his.

“No, take it like that. It’s true after all. I am really just curious about how good my experiment is. If even a waste like you can gain power through it, then the threat that the Dwarves and the Three-Eyed Clan pose to us will be gone.”

“You’re right, I won’t kill you yet, at least not in such a boring way… your father was too weak-hearted to get rid of you, but I am not quite fond of the idea of a free radical like you lingering in this world. You’ll serve as an obedient rat and—”

“Listen here.” I interrupted, “You won’t tell me what to do.”

“Hahahaha, at least stand to your feet if you want to say that.”

“Well, I like that. Entertain me a while.”

After these words, the mysterious world vanished smoothly, and I found myself sitting in the same place I had been before this whole ordeal. My face drenched in sweat.

What… what did I step into?