Inside a well-decorated room filled with historical relics of previous well-renowned figures, two people were in a heated argument. One of which was a middle-aged man with a full set of black hair making him seem quite youthful despite his actual age. The other, was a white-haired maiden desperately trying to reason with the man.
“Dean Alabaster, you can’t let her just be like that!” Fiona slammed Dean Alabaster’s desk furiously, she had been trying to stop the current situation from getting worse any further. “No one can stop her! It’s unreasonable to think that they could resolve the situation!”
Dean Alabaster merely smiled and firmly held onto his teacup, taking his sweet time enjoying it. “Well, Student Body President Fiona, you should know that rules are rules. It’s her prerogative to do whatever she wishes for as long as she doesn’t break any of the rules of this place.”
“You cannot be serious! She’s not mentally stable at all! What would happen if she accidentally kills someone?” Fiona wanted nothing more than to leave and resolve the issue at hand yet no matter how much she wanted to do so, she would be restricted.
“And as per the rules dictate, she will be dealt with accordingly.” Dean Alabaster kept the same expression on his face, this kind of situation wasn’t a first of its kind and definitely wouldn’t be the last. Although being taken over by a Fragment was a first one, the damage she could inflict wasn’t all that great. At most a few useless students would disappear, it didn’t matter at all for him.
“Rules? Then…” Fiona hesitatingly took out a metal coin from her pocket. The metal coin’s weight wasn’t heavy at all, such that even a toddler could raise it up yet the responsibility and burden of using it was too much even for her. She had already given up one of these metal coins to Elliot to consolidate his position which was in all honesty, a gamble. Her stable mentality was starting to tremble.
“Ohohoho, an Insignia of Excellence? Do you really want to use such an important item in such an irrelevant situation? What are you hoping to gain out of this?” He laughed in a way that wasn’t quite a laugh. Leaning back on his hair, he calmly placed his teacup back on his desk. This was quite an infuriating scene for him.
Dean Alabaster then stood up, his chair making a screeching sound as he did so. He came by and stood right beside her, patting her on her back. “Don’t use it. My advice is for you to use your Insignia of Excellence to grow your strength. That is, after all, what Seal Academy is all about.”
“Still, what would happen to everyone? This isn’t something that should happen at all!” Fiona gritted her teeth and grasped the Insignia of Excellence even more. “They can’t handle it right now! Wouldn’t this serve as a detriment than more of a motivator?”
“You know better than anyone else what my goal is. What the academy’s goal is. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. My goal is to nurture monsters, there’s no other reason why I’m doing this than to make you learn. If you use this Insignia of Excellence on saving those bunch of wastes then you’ll make my view of you lower.” Dean Alabaster truthfully spoke what he had in his mind. “You’ll save more people the stronger you become. We don’t have much time left.”
With a firm grasp on this metal coin, Fiona looked back at Dean Alabaster. “I don’t know what the future holds but I know that there’s someone who needs my help. I’m using my Insignia of Excellence.” Her firm and steady gaze filled with determination irked Dean Alabaster. Veins popped up on his forehead as rage bubbled within him.
Dean Alabaster’s worsened, “If that’s your decision so be it. What will you exchange it for?” He said this, fully knowing what Fiona would ask for. He sighed in disappointment, even though she had the perfect talent to rule she just didn’t have the mindset.
“Permanent Access to the 1st year’s area.” Fiona was fully committed to her beliefs. In terms of use, it was a complete and utter waste of an Insignia of Excellence. She could’ve used this to suppress the other syndicates from growing even further yet she chose to absurdly choose this route.
“So be it.” Dean Alabaster snapped his fingers as enacted his rights as the dean to change a certain restriction, letting Fiona enter that area. “Just so you know, I’m very disappointed. Even if you managed to bring Sefi to your side, tame Arin, or even have everyone follow along with your goals, it’s still such a waste. You’re going to be doing nothing for an entire year just to help out those who couldn’t even be on par with you.”
“I won’t regret it.” Fiona was about to leave when she looked back at him. “I still have an entire year left to prove myself. I’ll change this academy for the better.”
Dean Alabaster didn’t say anything else and just quietly watched her leave his office. He calmly went back to his seat and continued doing his paperwork. “If only she was ruthless, she would’ve been perfect.”
The recounts of the following events were very clear, Sefi madly ran around the halls, dismembering and crushing everyone she faced. There were even some accounts where the people she didn’t touch went crazy and attacked their companions around them throwing the entire 1st year area into chaos. She had singlehandedly caused more chaos than any other person.
Countless students were forced into hiding. For some odd reason, Sefi didn’t go after those who went inside the clinics. No one knew why or for what reason she didn’t go after them but this was more than enough for them to huddle up inside these rooms. A few unfortunate souls would evidently be caught by Sefi, making them scream in ways that didn’t resemble a human’s voice.
At around 6 PM, her reign of terror was swiftly ended by a white-haired maiden showing up to stop this lunatic. The fight ended in a single move as Fiona tapped Sefi on the back of her head, knocking her unconscious immediately. It was then that these countless students hiding within the clinics would come en masse, thanking Fiona for helping them out. They could finally leave the academy to go home or to go to their specified dorms.
Arin recovered soon enough, causing his entire body to weaken to an unbearable degree. From his calculations, his strength had dropped by half. Although he was still a force to be reckoned with, he was now that much weaker.
“Sounds like it’s over.” The mysterious student who was leaning by the door opened the door to check the premises. “I’ll be going now. Oh, and I’m taking the pills, call it a fee.”
Arin didn’t even bother with him, not even asking him his name. After feeling out of his state he left as well, directly heading home. The trip back was uneventful if you considered the screams for help and gunshots to be normal. No familiar faces showed up before him letting him have some peace for once, something he didn’t prefer. How else was he going to keep getting stronger if he wasn’t pushed to his limit?
Feeling his Secret Fragment in his pocket, he prepared for what was waiting for him at home, training. As per Kian’s plan, personally training his own son to properly handle a Fragment. As non-offensive as Arin’s Fragment seemed, it was still a formidable tool.
After scaling the ever-tall mountain to his humble abode, his mind focused on what he could do with this pen. All it could do was have whatever it wrote be impervious to normal means of wear and tear. As to how well it could handle the elements, Arin hasn’t tested it out yet at all.
As he finally saw his two-story home in full view, a very familiar man was sitting on the front porch, waiting for him.
“What took you so long?” Kian stood up and gestured for Arin to follow him. “We still have a lot of things to do. Wait… did you actually…”
Kian went over to Arin, observing him in detail, “You actually did, tell me who did you in?” Despite seeing Arin’s weakened body, he was still in high spirits. “Hahaha, come on, don’t be shy.”
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“I didn’t lose to anyone.” Arin confidently remarked. “If that’s what you’re asking. I collapsed after winning.”
“Really? Well then, who’s the one that did the most? You can at least tell me that, right?”
“A guy named Barlot. Cracked my ribs.” Arin already walked to the training area where all his weights and equipment were. It was an open field where the artificial sun could directly shine down on him.
“Barlot? Let’s see… yeah I have no idea who he is. Looks like you got done in by a nobody. How does it feel?”
“Good.” Arin held the usual 200kg dumbbell he used and tried to lift it up with one hand. He tried to use as much for as he could muster yet managed to lift it up. Even though he failed in his attempt his father didn’t mock him at all, just observing what he’ll do without his strength. “Besides, it just means I can get stronger.”
“Good mentality. As expected of my son. Now let’s go on to the main topic, Fragments. Bring out your pen.” Kian took out the leather glove from his inner pocket and wore it. From its seemingly unimportant look, it suddenly caused the air around him to tremble.
As Arin held onto his own personal Secret Fragment, he could feel it vibrate so vigorously that holding it in place was impossible for him. Kian stretched out his hand, leaning closer and closer to Arin, causing the pen to resonate even more in subservience.
“The first lesson you should learn is Fragment resonance. Higher grades suppress lower grades, it’s a simple hierarchy, clean and straight-cut. In cases like this, you need to control your own Fragment, so how do you do that?” Kian eased up on his aura, letting Arin control his own Fragment much easier.
Arin looked at his Secret Fragment and back at his father, “I don’t know.”
“Well then let me tell you, there are two schools of thought, one is to deify the Fragment, serving its needs, worshipping it, and forming a close bond with it. This method would have a greater effect as the Fragment would resonate with you, letting you gain more power from it since news flash, Fragments have a mind of their own. Not to the degree of sentience but more so, instinct.”
Arin gripped his own Fragment in understanding, right now his father was telling him what path he wanted to choose. He had already seen what deification did when one took it too far, all he needed to see was what happened to Sefi. From his observations, when his Secret Fragment resonated, there was a vicious look on Elliot’s face, something he hadn’t seen from that person at all. Adding on to the fact that loud screams of madness echoed throughout the halls it helped him accurately pinpoint what Sefi’s Fragment was.
Although Arin couldn’t figure out what grade Sefi’s Fragment was, he knew that it caused a strain of madness to invade people’s minds. As the owner of this Fragment, Sefi would surely be affected the most, making her actions much more understandable. And from this one single event, Arin scoffed at realizing what kind of method this was. To serve one’s weapon instead of owning it, he was repulsed at the thought.
Kian happily grinned as soon as he saw Arin’s expression of disgust, “Now unto the second school of thought, to rule over your weapon, to make it fear you, to make it be your servant. This method requires one to already be strong, using your own strength to dominate a Fragment’s will, which is exactly what I’m using right now. The benefits of this method are, in my opinion, well beyond the risk. You could fully unleash the Fragment’s full capability at once letting you overwhelm most opponents of the same level. The drawback is that once it senses weakness, the Fragment will try to consume you. This method makes it so that there is no loyalty with only strength does the speaking.”
Arin didn’t even hesitate, “The second method, how do I do it?”
“Calm down, Arin. I know you want that method but what if I told you there’s another one? Something that grants you the benefits of both sides without any of the downsides? Are you willing to accept it?” Kian subtly tried to guide Arin, he wanted his son to fully understand what he was signing up for.
“Does it involve me relying on someone else?” Arin went over what his greatest gripe was. If this method relied on anyone else but himself, he didn’t want it, no matter how good it was.
“Sharp, it does. Considering that I have a Mysterious Fragment, I can help grant you full access to your Secret Fragment’s potential. This will let you gain strength faster than your batch, taking the lead.”
“I’m not going to do it.” Arin knew that this method would hinder his potential in the future, preventing him from growing stronger, forever being a league weaker than his father.
“I understand.” No matter how much Kian wanted Arin to choose the 3rd option, he still respected his son’s choice. The process was easy to understand yet hard to implement, first Arin had to face the Fragment’s will, entering his consciousness into it to bargain with it. Secondly, he needed to combat the Fragment’s will, forcing it to submit to him, linking their consciousness together. Third, he had to follow along with the Fragment’s demands.
It may seem odd at first as you would still need to follow along with its demands even though you bested it. To answer this, it came to logic, where would the Fragment’s power come from? Arin’s pen, the Emperor’s Note, can’t have infinite ink for free, he had to consume something to power it up. This was what the demands were for, they were used to let the Fragment enact its special abilities.
Arin did as he was told, he sat down as he focused his entire attention on the Emperor’s Note. He felt his mind crack and shift as if there was something bubbling within it, slowly and surely this bubbling feeling turned into a stream that entered the Emperor’s Note. His eyes shut even harder and his teeth grinded against each other. It was a pain he had never experienced before. This feeling made him nauseous as if his entire world was turning upside down as if his mind was breaking torn apart and made anew.
One moment he was under a dim sky, the next, he was within an empty void. Arin opened his eyes only to see nothing, no light nor darkness, only nothing. From within this emptiness, an authoritative voice echoed from within, “Child, you dare?”
“Dare to what?” Arin was still confused, even though his splitting headache disappeared, it was now replaced with utter confusion at the sudden events.
“You dare come barge into my empire and dare bargain with me?!” This voice seemed to have filled in some of the gaps as Arin’s surroundings turned shimmering gold, countless soldiers plated in gold surrounded him, and even more, servants dressed in luxurious flowing silk watched on in horror.
Everything turned bright yellow as the emperor stood on his golden throne forged from numerous lances, swords, and sabers. Even his golden platter had a half-bitten golden apple atop it. Everything was far too exaggerated for Arin to comprehend.
Golden spears surrounded Arin on all sides, all aiming down his neck. Arin tried to move away these golden spears yet to no avail. Each one of these soldiers seemed stronger than him even at his full strength. It was safe to say, it wasn’t the time for Arin to hastily make a move.
“Die, Outlander.” An envoy walked up to speak on behalf of the king. “The Emperor isn’t a person you could just come up to and converse to. Know your place.”
Arin felt the golden spears closing in on his neck, as one finally pierced his skin, a thin dark red droplet flowed down his neck. Feeling his life at stake, he immediately acted upon his instincts. Arin raised his hands and… clawed out his eyes. Blood flowed from Arin’s empty eye sockets, similar to as if he cried in blood.
This sudden action caused the envoy to be taken aback, seeing such a thing for the first time. For someone to be so ruthless to themselves like this was well beyond his experiences. For as many years as he served the emperor, he had seen people betray their friends, parents sell their children, and even people destroy everything in their madness. Yet never before had he seen someone stain the golden floor of this palace with their own blood.
Arin’s actions immediately showed his intentions. He didn’t know why but the feeling of death loomed before him, he didn’t know if this was even real or if the illusionary world of this Fragment made him think as such.
Arin’s haughty and sadistic personality paid off for survival.
“Stand down. Let’s hear what he to say.” The emperor was amused at how Arin acted, such determination to mutilate himself made him satisfied with his performance. The golden soldiers all drew back their weapons, creating a small clang as they slammed them down on the floor.
The envoy walked up, creating audible footsteps as the golden jewelry he wore clashed with each other. “You heard His Majesty, speak.”
“I…” Arin tried to speak up but he could only utter in a weak voice. This prompted the envoy to come in closer. The crisp noise as his jewelry bumped into each other caused Arin’s ears to perk up. Once he was finally within a close enough distance the envoy came to listen to what he had to say.
“Close.” Arin immediately took the envoy by the throat and threw him in front, only using his hearing to judge how to move. This caused the soldier plated in gold to drop his spear on the ground as he grabbed onto the envoy. Arin didn’t waste this opportunity and ran in, grabbing the spear in his hand to strike back.
“Put that dog down!” The emperor roared in rage, he had never seen someone be so blatantly suicidal before.
As he heard this, Arin smirked, “Got you.” Gripping his spear tightly, he was about to throw it when a golden soldier pierced his chest, accurately piercing his heart. Arin’s entire body felt the shock of having his chest pierced through. The emperor maliciously smiled as Arin was finally killed.
“Clean it up!” As he was about to order them to clean everything up, Arin sadistically smiled.
His loosening grip suddenly regained its vigor. Even the golden soldier was surprised at where Arin got this surging vitality from, he tried to use his spear as a hook to prevent Arin from throwing his very own spear but it was too late. Before he could rip Arin’s body apart, he had already thrown it in the emperor’s direction.
The moment when everyone thinks is over is when they let all their guard down. Arin knew this and feigned everything for this one chance. The spear he threw aimed true, accurately piercing the emperor’s chest.
As Arin’s fading consciousness turned black, he could hear countless cries as their emperor died. “You still died by my hands in the end…”