Chapter 6

Scarlet paint

The brightly lit hallway was empty as Kiyro followed the trail of his Alive gear. But then, he noticed that he was going in a full circle. The others were walking the same pattern as him, following each other like a train. He couldn't help but wonder what the purpose was of walking around the college building they were in.

"Are you guys actually watching the map on your Alive gear?" Kiyro called out to his teammates to see if they noticed something strange.

"Yea. It's like we all go in the same counterclockwise direction in a circular pattern. It seemed we were arriving at the same location the other was in." Alex was the first to answer Kiyro. "I wouldn't be surprised if we complete the whole circle at this rate."

"We're creating a boundary," said Isabel. Kiyro stopped in his tracks, lost for words. A boundary?

"Creating a boundary?" asked Alex. Even Kiyro did not understand what she meant when she stated they were creating a boundary.

"In all magick casting, there must be a boundary for the caster to create a space to cast her magic. We are using energy from the crystal by first connecting with it and walking around the whole building. Each of us creates a boundary from when we walk with the crystal."

"Can you explain a bit more?" Kiyro wasn't completely getting what Isabel was saying. A boundary to create a space for magick? Already his head was spinning with confusion.

"You guys keep moving. We should move and get this completed. If I'm right, we should be almost done." Isabel called out in a chirpy attitude, excited about what would happen next.

"Gotcha," called out Jack. "Let's get this over with, people." Kiyro could hear the loud clapping sound from the Alive gear.

"Yea. Yea. Yea. We heard you." Alex's tone of voice didn't sound too happy.

Kiyro sighed. They were right. He had continued to walk forward. The reward for the mission was only a good portion of the way to the finish line. Not even that, this would allow him to return to take on missions from Demon Fox. He remembers that his rankings in his Academy were only a couple of levels away from getting the well-paid ones.

The thought struck him. He had no reason to play the game; instead, he could make loads of money by taking on missions. Then, just as he had an epiphany, another thought struck him hard in the guts. He remembered that the missions were not always present. It was not a stable income. His ego deflated, and he trudged forward, trying to figure out a way to bring in a stable income.

Then like a bolt of lightning, it struck him. The best way to bring in money in both realms was information. He was good in this aspect at finding answers that nobody else would have found. The game opened up billions of customers worldwide, and advertising his services again would bring him the necessary income. The idea was worth trying, and it spurred him forward to try something different.

His mind raced with dozens of new ideas and possibilities. He wondered, was this the reason why this mission was given to him by Demon Fox? To bring him information that he needed. Kiyro scratched his head, his mind racing like a racehorse. Demon Fox did not give out missions without reason, especially when it came down to higher-class missions. He would always ask odd questions to Kiyro. He sometimes wondered why he would ask questions that rarely corresponded to the mission.

Not only did his game character have a natural habit of collecting information through videos and writing, but he had also already acquired quite a stack of filled notebooks in his bag.

Throughout exploring the world of Noriene, he had taken meticulous notes of each dungeon's weaknesses and monsters and gathered possible future quest notes from the NPCs. Not only that, he had a natural talent for remembering information for long periods without forgetting; you could say he was like a walking encyclopedia.

What astounded him the most was his special job in the game. Being a Record Keeper of Historia was much more useful than he had imagined, especially in storing, collecting, and even revisiting the notes and videos he had written.

Kiyro wondered if bringing out the Book of Historia in the real world was possible. But then, he remembered that Sylph was brought to the real world to become a navigator. Even Dion was in the Real World quest. So it wouldn't be impossible for something like the Book of Historia to be unable to appear before him, but he wasn't sure where to begin or if it was possible and randomly threw out the name of the book.

"Historia?" He tilted his head, waiting for something to happen. But instead, nothing showed up in his Alive gear or around him.

"Book of Historia?" Kiyro folded his arms. "Special Jobs? Bookkeeper? Damn it, what else would bring it up. Here I thought the privilege of a Record Keeper would show me something."

At that moment, the Book of Historia appeared before him. An oak tree cover design slowly opened to its first page.

What just happened? Kiyro thought in disbelief. He almost bumped into the wall from not paying attention. He wasn't fully sure how the Book of Historia was here.

Bringing up his hands, he reached for the Book of Historia. A message appeared before him directing him on how to use the book.

To call out the Book of Historia, just say Book of Historia.

To read through the pages of the Record Keeper, swipe your hand from the left or right. If you have a specific page that you want to look into, call out the name of the Recorded information. Not all information is available, only the information you have written, recorded, or saved.

To close the book, call out End Privilege.

Skimming through the pages with his hands moving from side to side, Kiyro noticed all the information he had taken in the Growth game. He could even replay the World Game Quest in real-time before him. However, what interested him the most was the new section tab for the Real World Quest that he was taken in part and the quest that he had done before. Everything was perfectly recorded from beginning to end, like a movie reel.

While sifting through the pages, he paused in front of the Real World Quest that he was in. Scrolling down, he noticed a caption titling the video. The aftermath of war in the world of Noriene. A quest is given to find the source that pollutes the air of Noriene. One young man named Kiyro takes on one of the thousands of quests to fight off the darkness that encroaches upon the land of Earth. His quest leads him to set up a magical barrier to close one of the many-dimensional tears of the world.

Kiyro stopped and reread the caption. What caught his attention the most was that the Book of Historia seemed to know more about the quest. Isabel's words were in the same line of thought as the book implied. Nobody but him had access to the Book of Historia; if there were other sources of information that he did not know about, it was very unlikely but a possibility.

Turning the page, Kiyro stopped upon the second quest. The title inscribed beautifully in bold black letters was Energy Well and a small clip underneath it. It was a video of the past hours recorded. Underneath the video, he noticed a caption being in the process of being written.

A group of Adventurers has taken on a challenge that uses old magick to call forth the elements to life.

While reading the line, he felt the back of his neck hair stand on edge. He whipped around to see who had their gaze cast upon him. Scanning around from side to side, there was nobody present but himself. Once again, he felt a gaze cast upon him, but he could not find the source.

Where was it coming from? He did not know, and it unnerved him that he could not find the source. He didn't expect the Book of Historia to disappear in front of him in a blink of an eye without him calling out. He thought he had to call out "End Privilege" for it to disappear, but for some reason, it did not. So he would need to learn a bit more about the book.

"Young man." Kiyro jumped in startelement and whipped his body towards the voice. Then, his nerves on edge, in a flash, he whipped out a black dagger hidden in his sleeves. He was ready to strike at any given chance.

An old man in his sixties wearing a blue suit with a small white name tag stuck to his chest name Sam called out towards him. He could smell the strong scent of bleach and cleaning supplies that smelled like a lemon from the old man's clothes.

Kiyro couldn't help but take short breaths to stop the overpowering scent of the cleaning supplies. It was already giving him a slight headache. He stashed the hidden dagger quickly away into his sleeves. He was slightly startled to see an old man appear out of nowhere. He was good at sensing people sneaking up on him, but on rare occasions, only a few had succeeded or were lucky.

"Young man, I was wondering if you could spare some of your time." The old man motioned him towards him.

Kiyro pointed towards himself and glanced around to see if anyone else was present. "Me?" He answered.

"Yes, who else would I be talking to but you?" The old man mumbled, "Do you see anyone else?"

"No," Kiyro went silent. He walked towards the old man wearily. He wasn't sure what the old man wanted, nor did he like that the old man snuck up on him. "What can I help you with, sir?"

"Ah yes. Yes." The old man slushed around the mop in the bucket of unclean water. He squeezed the mop and shakily handed it to Kiyro. "If you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you could help me mop that spot near the wall. My back has been hurting me these couple of minutes, so I cannot bend over to get the last stains."

Kiyro turned towards the spot where the old man was pointing. He saw a spilled coffee on the floor with the cup opened wide. Damn, people can't clean up after themselves for the mess that they created? He was peeved at whoever spilled the coffee on the floor. Cleaning after grown adults was not something he wanted to do, but he noticed that the old man was hunched over with his arms on his hips and his face cringed with pain. The scene before him infuriated him more at the person who had left behind a spilled coffee.

He couldn't help but feel sympathy for the old man. He remembered when he had injured his back and couldn't move for a whole week. The pain was immeasurable then, and he knew the old man was just starting to feel the pain.

Taking the mop out of the old man's hand, he quickly brought it over to the spilled coffee and began mopping the floor. "Don't worry. I don't mind sparing some time."

"Why, thank you, young man. I would have had trouble finishing up for today. My back was starting to just intensify in pain. Until you came, I had trouble moving."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But, I truly understand what it is like to injure your back."

"For someone so young to injure your back. You must be careful. Your back is your life."

Kiyro smiled and chuckled. "As you can see. I'm doing well."

The old man smiled. "You remind me of the time when I was still young. Even though I still have a youthful mind, those energetic days, my body has aged." Although he coughed a couple times as if something was stuck in his throat, "I still strive for my dreams for a better tomorrow."

"I'm surprised that you still think that way."

"Kuhuhuhu," the old man chuckled and, right after, had difficulty breathing.

"Are you alright?" Kiyro asked, concerned that the old man might keel over and faint. He stopped what he was doing and was about to go towards the old man but was stopped by his raised hand.

"It's alright. This usually happens a couple of times a day. But, young man, remember this: A dream is a dream. Everyone can dream and hope for tomorrow, but a dreamer can only stay in the clouds. Nothing will be done if you only dream. Only a rare few make their dreams a reality." He paused to take a breath. "I have gone and traveled and done many things. So many things that even I did not expect myself to ever do. These experiences are valuable, even if they were for that moment."

"But then, how did you end up as a janitor?" Kiyro listened attentively to the old man's speech.

"Ah yes, a janitor. It's only a temporary job, more like a request I have taken as a favor from an old friend. When my job is complete, and my use for this place is no more, I, too, shall fly towards my next adventure. Even thinking about it makes me antsy with anticipation."

"You seem to have so much energy in you. Why don't you share some with me?" Kiyro chuckled and enjoyed their light-hearted conversation.

"If only I could."

"What do you mean that a rare few people go after their dreams? I thought everyone does."

The old man stared back at Kiyro with a solemn face. His eyes cast down with sorrow at the message he would give. "It's because we only dream and are afraid to take that step forward. When roadblocks come and we fall from our failure, we forget it is just a test. Then we lose all reason and hope, thinking our future is over because we failed and our dreams are hopeless. We forget our motivations, the drive that first pushed us towards that dream, and we fall into endless repetitive motions and events. We become so comfortable in what we do that we are afraid we will lose what we have to gain something better. We must give up something to gain something else. We can not have both. Our selfishness gets in our way, and our fear of the unknown stops us in our tracks. We fear for all the things we have gained for the dream we wished dearly."

"Then what do we do? How are you able to still continue to go after your dreams?"

The old man brilliantly smiled. In Kiyro's eyes, he seemed to grow a little bigger and glow with light. He couldn't help but rub his eyes, wondering if he saw things.

"Never give up." The old man bent forward towards Kiyro. "When the world throws mud at your face and makes you fall, you get up and wipe it clean. If you have nothing to clean it with, use your own clothes. The world will constantly challenge you to see if you are worthy of your dreams. It will throw stones, sticks, rocks, storms, and even upside down. Every time a new challenge arises, more contestants fall from failure and loss hope. They give up thinking this is the end."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The old man folded his hands, and his eyes brightened alive. "But for the rare 1% who were beaten up, ragged with ripped clothes, and even have a couple of broken bones, they still crawl out to reach for what they believe is rightfully theirs to achieve their dreams. So young man, what is your dream?"

Kiyro thought for a moment about the past months that had transpired. He had left home wanting to run away from the problem instead of thinking it was to chase after his dreams. He had arrived in Atlanta looking for a new job and was not lucky enough to land a job. Then he threw himself into the gaming world of Growth, looking for a chance to gain money, but failed to enter the contest. Now he was given a temporary mission that only brought a set income.

He now had a set idea of what he needed to do, but his end goal of living peacefully in his own house was still far away. "I want to own a house and live peacefully with the one I love."

"Is that all that you want to accomplish?"

"What else could there be?"

The old man laughed. "I don't think that would make you completely happy."

"How do you know? You are not me?"

"I do not need to know you to understand that humanity is never satisfied with just one thing. Once you complete your goal, what next? In a couple of years, you would be itching to try something else or gain something new."

"I have never thought of what's after."

"Not a lot of people do."

"Then what should I do?" Kiyro was struck with the realization of what would come after. He thought that his dream goal was the end. There was nothing more to it than that.

"That is up to you to find out," the old man laughed, startling him out of his momentary daze.

"Kid. There is more to you than you believe. All you have to do is believe."

"Excuse me?" Kiyro was confused at his words. He wondered what the old man meant. He was deep in thought on what to say and do. Already his head hurts from overthinking. He thought he heard his mind go pop as his mind went completely blank.

"Kiyro?" A female voice called out towards him. He turned around to hear who was calling him.

"Eve?" He noticed her waving him down as she power-walked over to him.

"What are you doing?" She asked. "Is that a mop? Where did you get that?"

"I was helping an elderly man with cleaning the floor. He had a bad back, and I thought he

needed some help."

"Elderly man? Where?" Eve walked around him, confused. "I don't see him anywhere. I only saw you?"

"I swear he was talking with me a moment ago." Kiyro dropped the mop in complete confusion. A loud clatter rang throughout the hallway as he scanned around, looking for the elderly man.

"Hello? Old man?" He called out.

Kiyro walked over and peered next to the other hallway. "I swear he was here. How did he disappear so quickly?" He was stumped on what happened before him. "He was standing right here."

Walking over to the old man's spot, he pointed down towards the ground. "It's nearly impossible to run down both hallways in under a minute."

"Are you alright?" Eve asked, concerned. She walked over and placed her hand on his forehead.

"You don't have the summer cold, do you?" With her other hand, she placed her hand on her

head.

"Your forehead is slightly warm. You might have a slight fever."

"I'm not delusional-" Kiyro's voice was stopped short when a message appeared in front of his Alive gear.

You have found an easter egg by talking and helping out an unknown elderly man. From your good deed, an easter egg has been sent to your inbox.

Kiyro quickly clicked over to his inbox. He knew he didn't see things and what happened before him was all real. A small egg with a black feather in his inbox was neatly designed on it. His finger hovered over as the bold letters of the egg's name were shown. Easter Egg.

Kiyro quickly tapped the Easter Egg to see what it was. Then, a celebratory bang of confetti was shown in front of his glasses, startling him. He took several steps back, trying to orientate himself again. Then, a small dove appeared with a green olive branch before his screen. It fluttered around him as the branch fell, and a message appeared before him.

You have opened up an Easter Egg. A blessing is on its way.

The dove and the message disappeared into thin air. Kiyro wondered what this blessing was. What the game of Growth could have sent its way towards him in such a circumstance, he did not know. Was it a game item? A possible gift, or could it be a reward? He thought it over a couple of times.

"Kiyro? What are you looking at?" Eve asked. She peered over his shoulder, trying to see the same thing as he, but could not.

"It's nothing. Let's just go on with what we were doing." Kiyro put the dirtied mop back into the bucket and pushed it against the wall. He was finished mopping up the floor and was ready to go.

"You sure? It seemed you were looking at something."

"Well, have you ever gotten an easter egg before?"

"Easter egg? Do you mean the holiday?"

"No. I'm talking about finding an easter egg in games. Where the creator leaves behind small fun things that usually don't have anything to do with the game. Sometimes, it could be an extra level, funny scenes, or extras while playing."

"Not that I have knowledge of. I haven't heard anything about the game of Growth talking about any Easter Egg in games. Did you find one or something?"

"Yea. I did, but nothing happened."

"Well, it is an Easter Egg. I wouldn't be sure what an Easter Egg would do in a Real-life quest. Kind of odd, don't you think?" They both had begun to walk towards their destination, as shown on their map.

"Either way, this World's Real-life quest is a bit strange. Doing errands and supposedly closing some kind of barrier. Who would've thought I would be doing these odd things?"

Kiyro shrugged. "It happens. Life throws a funny curveball when it wants to."

"I agree." Eve nodded; she placed her hands in her pockets.

Then Eve suddenly stopped moving and stared off into the distance. For a full five seconds, Eve did not respond or move.

"Eve?" Kiyro stopped and waved in front of her face. She did not respond. "Eve." He spoke

louder towards her.

Once again, she did not move nor twitch.

"Eve!" Kiyro burst out loud, trying to catch her attention.

Eve startled awake and turned towards Kiyro. Her eyes widened, and her face paled. "Kiyro?"

"Are you okay?" Kiyro asked, concerned. He wondered why she was zoning out in the middle of the hallway, not moving.

"I-I'm okay." She responded and began to walk forward.

Kiyro followed her, wondering what was wrong, but she would not speak nor answer. Instead, her pace seemed to increase.

"Eve," Kiyro grabs her hand and stops her. "Are you alright?"

Eve stopped and looked around, skittish. "I-I think so."

"What's wrong? What got you so riled up?" Kiyro was starting to get worried for her. "Take a deep breath and breathe." He motioned her to follow.

She nodded vigorously and took a deep breath. As she let out air, her mind and body slowly settled. She was finally calm.

"Better?"

"Yea. Thanks."

"So what was that about?

Eve once again slowly began to fidget uncomfortably. "I-" She stopped and stared at him. "I had-"

Once again, Eve uncomfortably shuffled, trying to say the right words but was held back, trying to figure out what to say. One of her hands was sliding back and forth on her other arms; watching her made Kiyro slightly uncomfortable.

"It's okay. I'm here. I'm all ears." Kiyro gently said, hoping the push would stop her from moving irritably.

"I need you to be open minded," Eve replied. She looked at him straight in his eyes, accentuating its importance.

"I'm always open-minded to new ideas," Kiyro reassured her, now even more curious about what she had to say.

"I had a premonition." Eve quickly replied that Kiyro almost did not catch what she had stated.

"Excuse me?"

"A premonition. Basically a Perception of events before they happen. In other words, a vision. I had a vision." She clenched her teeth, trying not to repeatedly say the same phrase a third time. "I know. I'm the last person to have something strange happen, but I didn't believe it too until it hit me."

"Were you sleepy? Hallucination could hit you when you don't have enough sleep." Kiyro asked, making sure she didn't see things.

"No. I really had one. Come on, Kiyro, would you really hear something so crazy coming out of my mouth like this?"

Kiyro thought for a moment. She had a valid point. Whenever something supernatural was brought up, she and Alex flatly denied it. "So, what is it?"

"Okay," she breathed in deeply and exhaled, letting out all her worries. "It just hit me. I was just standing still for a moment when everything around me stopped abruptly, and another place appeared before me like a whirlwind." Her face darkened with worry. "I saw scarlet paint spilled all over a white floor. Dimly lit and broken lights tinted windows on both sides as the scarlet paint looked like it was smeared by dragging something on the ground. I specifically remember this horrible smell that is really difficult to explain. I'm not sure where it suddenly came from. It appeared and disappeared like smoke." She shivered.

"Was that all?"

"There was one more thing. I saw a very unusual mask. The mask was smiling with a five-pointed black star underneath its left eye. It had a skull design on the whole mask. What really got me was the feeling behind the mask; I have never felt so much hatred from it."

Kiyro thought about it for a moment. For Agnis to spill out something that she was not comfortable in was surprising in itself.

"I don't know about you, but I don't want to see something like that again. It's creepy." Agnis rubbed her arms and shivered once again. She was not comfortable telling Kiyro what she saw.

"Hopefully, it means nothing," Kiyro replied. "Let's go on ahead and meet up with others."

"Yea. That would be a good idea. This college is nice and all, but I can't seem to get rid of this uncomfortable feeling in my mind. It's like I'm on thin ice and don't know when it will break."

"Wait, you had that feeling too?" Kiyro asked. "I thought I was the only one feeling like that."

"You too?" Eve's eyes turned wide like a doe staring at a blinding light. "Since when? I have been getting the feeling the moment we started saying those words out loud."

"I felt uncomfortable since the moment we stepped on school grounds. I just can't explain it, but I feel like we need to hurry up and get out of here." Kiyro tried to shake off the feeling, but the feeling was intensifying with every step they took.

"You're starting to worry me. You know we can feed off each other's emotions and blow them out of proportion. Let's just say it's all in our heads and get this over with." Eve stuck closer to him when she gave such an answer.

"Let's go with that." Trying to help calm Eve's nerves.

They continued walking towards their destination, winding through hallways, cafeterias, and even the school's bookstore.

Throughout the whole walk, Kiyro was curious about the whole ordeal. From getting an easter Egg that would open when it wanted to and a vision from someone like Eve. Many things made Kiyro wonder if there was possibly more to this quest. He knew they needed to finish the quest to find that specific answer.

Kiyro and Eve suddenly stopped moving. Instead, what they saw shocked both of them.

What lay before them was the same exact scene that Eve had stated. The scarlet red paint-like liquid was smeared on the white floor. It was as if something heavy was pulled towards the dimly lit hallway with tinted windows on the side. A couple of lights flickered on and off like a horror scene as the buzzing sound could be heard.

Then a horrible stench hit them squarely in the face. Kiyro and Eve quickly covered their nose to block out the smell, but it did not go away.

Eve turned towards Kiyro in complete silence in shock. He could see on her face that she was deeply unnerved.

"Eve. Kiyro. What are you guys doing standing there?" Jack called out before them. He came up from behind and stopped beside them. "You guys okay?"

Jack looked down towards the ground where both of them were looking. "What the hell-"

Both Eve and Kiyro turned their head with worry on their face. They did not know where to begin.

#####

Alex sat patiently in the principal office. He wasn't so hyped about punching the young man in the face. In reality, he didn't want to do it, but that young man did not let him go. Why are young adults these days so rude? He thought. Maybe it was just the younger generation getting more ignorant these days, or possibly they just were not taught any manners.

He did not want security to be called, so he went along with the principal and arrived at the office. One way or another, the quest asked him to arrive at the principal's office, so he did not care how he got there.

At first, when he received the first world quest, he did it out of curiosity. There wasn't much to it but delivering the trinket to a run-down junkyard. The only problem was five pit bulls were running around the area. Luckily for him, he didn't get a single bite, but the dogs were a different story.

Alex shivered at the thought of the dogs that were chasing him relentlessly. He did not want to go through that whole ordeal again. Even though two out of the five were killed on the spot, the other three did not back down. Their foaming mouths made them look like rabid dogs, the third and fourth ones took a bit of time, and he was able to lock them up in a car.

The last one was different; he wondered what the owner fed those dogs. He could still remember the dogs glistening red eyes and ghastly blur-like speed. For a moment throughout the chase, he thought the dog had shifted into a demon. It would growl an unearthly growl, corner him, and spring traps that a normal dog couldn't possibly know how to do.

Outsmarting the dog was a challenge, but it was not impossible. He was able to arrive at the destination of the target and leave before the dog could catch him. Remembering the past gave him unwanted chills. But, in the end, he got a clue about what he wanted.

Alex was standing in front of the train station, waiting for the clue to arrive, when he received the message for a call out. The quest was the hint to his question about the elusive Seed. These questions regarding the Seed started bothering him to the point where he started having dreams about it.

He sighed and leaned backward as he comfortably placed his head on the end of the chair. He had a slight headache that seemed to not want to disappear today. The headache seemed to increase in the last couple of minutes. Staring at the ceiling, he wondered why this whole mission was even given to him in the first place. Now he remembered; he was drinking a coffee when WhiteRose slipped it in his large stack of mission files he had to do. He should've paid more attention when she came over, but he was too engrossed in reading his files to even pay attention to her.

She had a knack for giving him missions that she did not want to do, especially gaming. Then, one day, he would get her back by dragging her into the game. The lame excuse of the game ruining her skin would be thrown out the window in seconds. He did not tolerate WhiteRose's complaints like Fallen Angel. He spoiled her too much compared to others.

"Mr. Black. Please come to the office." The secretary called out towards Alex He got up and made his way through the opened door.

The elderly principal sat down with her hands crossed and stopped talking with the young man Alex hit square in the face.

"Mr. Black. You're here for one reason, and you know that reason. When we get angry, we do not use violence like savages even if the other person was in the wrong." The principal said crossly. Her high-pitched tone was making him have a worse headache.

He wished that she would stop talking. The concept of using violence did get a lot of things solved on the spot. It brought him to the principal's office on the spot, didn't it, even though it did bring unwanted attention. The only problem was the annoyance that bothered him to the point where he had to use his fist.

"Because we have grown adults, I would like to solve this civilly between two people."

Alex's headache was intensifying from the screech-like sound her voice was giving. Her voice was droning on and on so bad that even his vision was failing him. Everything was like a blur as her voice made things worse and worse. The excruciating headache got to the point where his head wanted to burst.

He stood up and shouted, "Enough!"

Suddenly, both the young man and the principal were roughly pushed back against the wall, making a loud bang from impact. Both of them fell to the ground unconscious. Alex stared in complete shock. He did not know what had transpired; instead, all he could do was gape at what lay before him.

A seed has been activated.

The first growth period of the Seed Sprout has been released. Seed skill Telekinesis has been learned.

Telekinesis or in other words Psychokinesis

Beginner level 1

Throughout the increasing migraines and headaches, your ability has finally been released, allowing you to use the pent-up stress in your head. A psychic ability allows a person to influence a physical system without physical interaction. It can be used in the real world and in-game world. Requires a large amount of energy to activate the skill. Practice makes perfect!

No words could describe what had happened before him. He was too confused and lost in how he could pull such an ability out of thin air. The so-called ability didn't hit him until he finished reading the screen. He was the one that caused the unconsciousness of both the boy and the principal.

Stepping forward, confused, he almost tripped on the wooden chair in front of him. Then, quickly correcting himself, the answer hit him. What he was looking for had finally been answered, but for what purpose? The answer was just as elusive as the first time he was searching for the Seed in the beginning.

Alex knew he needed to tell the higher-ups, but at the same time, he knew the mission did not end here. He sighed. Eve's voice sounded off from his Alive gear.

"I'm in location," Eve called out.

"Same," said Jack in an irked voice, "I'm in a damn female bathroom. What the hell. Let's get this over with."

"Are you serious?" Eve whispered and laughed. "Don't get caught, pervert.

"I'm not trying to be one. Let's hurry it up, people." Jack was peeved at where he was at.

"I'm in the maintenance room. It's quite dark in here," said Isabel.

"You guys are better off than me." Alex's voice-over encompassed the others. "I'm in the principal office."

"That's not too bad," replied Jack.

"I think I'm in trouble."

"What happened?" Eve gasped. "You alright?"

"Got into a small fist fight."

"You serious? You could've avoided all that."

"I know; something happened where it was necessary to pull a few punches. It's fine; I'll get myself out of here today. Either way, it seems almost all of us are ready. Who else are we missing?"

"Kiyro," Eve called out. "Hey, Kiyro. Are you there?"

"I'm here in a classroom. There is a class going on," said Kiyro.

"Are you going to be fine over there?"

"Yea. Give me a moment." Silence followed. "I'm ready. What next?"

"I'm not sure. We wait?"

"How much longer?" Jack asked impatiently. "I can't stay here forever." He whispered into the Alive gear.

"Same. I think I hear footsteps on my end," Isabel's voice was in a panic. "Come on...Yes! I got something."

Please recite this word on the selenite.

"Invictus Irritus"

“Invictus Irritus,” said Alex stupefied.

"Ignis," whispered Kiyro, trying not to bring attention.

"Sonus," said Eve

"Ventus," said Isabel.

"Aqua," said Will.

"Humus," said Jack.

He could hear each person speak out their words simultaneously.

Alex quickly opened the door and left, trying not to catch anyone's attention. But, unfortunately, he failed to notice that his headache was gone.